Katie's World

tiramisu dessert

2005-06-12T15:10:00.000+12:00

When I left work on Friday afternoon all organised and prepared for the following week, I was expecting to have another mundane Saturday. Little did I know that this Saturday before me would bring an event so important that the natural order of things as I knew it, would be tipped upside down. It happened after the dinner I had with friends, when someone bought out something more delicious and indulgent than I had ever experienced before. The appearance of the dessert set before me, was promising, though there was no hint that its taste would linger in my memory for quite as long as it did.

Tiramisu dessert: a lavish layer of thick dark chocolate, a sponge soaked in coffee and tiramisu with a delicate sweet sauce on top.

Lemon cheesecake is no longer number one on my top 40 list....

Rugby

2005-05-29T19:49:00.000+12:00

Last night I watched the Crusaders win the Super 12.
Need I say more.

Extensions

2005-05-24T20:52:00.000+12:00

I began the year thinking that I would be very firm on due dates for assignments with my new classes. Today I gave my students a re-extension of the extension of their extension...because of um, flooding and vaccinations. I am just waiting for my classroom to be infested with a plague of frogs... there is STILL 12 hours before their absolute, final due time of 8.30am tomorrow morning.

I made it very clear to them, that infact 8.31am would be too late - I was very cross and quite heated when I extended the extension, and in my flap actually told THEM to calm down. One of the "cool" ones at the back raised his eyebrows and gave me a "are you talking to US" kind of look. At least I noticed it.

rain

2005-05-22T21:59:00.000+12:00

Teachers down the road at Tauranga Boy's were doing their playground duty on the field - um... in kayaks!

Ok - I'm back

2005-02-15T21:23:00.000+13:00

Yup - I got the hint. I am back. I was soooo surprised to hear from several sources that my cyber-presence was actually missed and that there were actually people out there who read my wee blog. Soooooo - here goes, and here's to 2005. May it be a good one.

Highlights over the past few weeks have been settling in at my new school in Tauranga (I kid you not - that has been a highlight! Nice kids! Cool staff and a beautiful rural outlook from my classroom window for three days - .... now the rural outlook has changed to an outlook to a series of portacoms, a group of temporary practise rooms ......hmmm, not so nice, but yes - functional) Ohhhh - what is cool, is that when it is windy, the wind plays tunes down the narrow pathway between the portacoms and the classroom. YES - an Aeolian harp for the Music Dept. Who would have believed it?

I've been going along to a cool group called: "Spectrum", "Church off the beaten track" run by my friends (yay to Greg and Tracy!). Yup - we sit around on leather couches on a Friday night and discuss our way through a church service. We've been talking about..."Desire" just over the last two sessions - what is it? - how does it drive us towards God? That kind of thing... It's been cool, and the dvds/fish and chips after have also been great.

Ohhhh... I just resumed my exercise programme today. The PE teacher at school, God Bless Charlotte, had me hanging upside down from all SORTS of equipment. I was Bat-woman today. Fortunately my hiatus hernia did not play up - and you will be pleased to know that I didn't vomit anywhere in the gym.

I am staying in luxury at the moment! Big grin - was offered board at my best friend's parents place. :-) YAY.... soooo - I have a 180 degree view of the harbour... pretty cool huh?

Ok - that's about me for today - love to you all. Oh yes - and feel free to post a comment, you can now, cause I figured out how to allow anyone to post without joining the site. (Aren't I clever? ...took me long enough!)

kisses and cuddles. xx

summer

2005-01-11T22:29:00.000+13:00

Summer? - What is that?
The seasons have gone all rolly polly and I had to put the tent up in the backgarden today because it was so damp after the summer weather. Hopefully it is drying out - I will not speak too soon.

yakking in a kayak

2005-01-10T20:33:00.000+13:00

Over New Year I proved that I can be an outdoors person. Yes, I can handle a week away from bathrooms, flush toilets and tap water in exchange for superb views and nights under canvas listening to distant and gentle snores of fellow campers...

I went kayaking for 4 days around Lake Tarawera. Ester, tramper and kayaker extraordinaire taught me well. We battled New Zealand's fickle weather patterns, boaties and water-skiiers and triumphed under the challenge.

The bonus is that I have now discovered that dehydrated tramping food can taste quite good. Infact I will buy a small supply to use at home when I am in a rush to make a quick meal.

the silly season

2004-12-21T23:03:00.000+13:00

It has been a while since my last post - and how things have changed! In the space of a week, I have managed to travel to the Gold Coast (get serious sunburn and a number of bargain clothes), change jobs and get ready to move town!

Tee hee.... well the Gold Coast holiday is probably best summed up with one little story.... Helen and I, for the first time in our lives, gamble ONE DOLLAR each on the pokie machines in the huge Casino there - within seconds, and I repeat, on our first go..... we manage to make a further 17 dollars! It was a lucky holiday - from start to finish.... travel and accomodation paid for courtesy of the local radio station, beautiful weather, yummy food... and great company.

Oh - and I saw my first snake.... oh, and... it WASN'T in a zoo.

Have decided not to move back to Auckland next year.... and have managed to get a job in Tauranga with the responsibility for the Senior Music programme in the school and teaching all senior classes. Yay! Tee hee - I get to manage myself - I can be a manager!

Well - to the few lovely people around the world who visit me online - Have a very very happy Christmas.... safe, joyful, peaceful full of laughs, fun, family, friends.

the day i told the personal trainer that i was not getting very puffed anymore..... and the consequences....

2004-11-29T19:20:00.000+13:00

May I suggest to you,( if you are a regular gym goer and find that you are exercising well within your comfort zone ) that you fake getting puffed. The consequences of fessing up to your personal trainer that you could do with more of a challenge are dire. For me, this meant a 100% increase in the length of time I spend at the gym, a series of exercises on equipment that looks as if it might be remnants of a medeival torture chamber, and getting up close and personal with a large rubber sphere... The "manual" setting of the cross trainer is now set to "random" - in otherwords, I now have simulated hills in my routine.

However, the good news is that if I manage to survive another 3 months of this, I will have a toned tummy, small bulges in certain muscle groups and have curves in all the right places.

liar, liar pants are on fire!!

2004-11-19T16:56:00.000+13:00

Was mid- "this is a very important music department planning for 2005 day" - meeting on Wednesday when... mid sentence of the mid-meeting I was sharply interrupted by the penetrating whine of the fire alarm. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so startling had it not been raining. And yes - the assembly point was the outdoor field.

1 fire engine. 6 dazzlingly coloured civil defence hard hats. 100 teachers under the bus shelters. 1500 young women in their $1,000.00 a piece school uniforms. Very few umbrellas.

2004-11-10T17:58:00.000+13:00

Three women, a toddler and a baby

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

2004-11-10T17:47:00.000+13:00

Monday was spent with babies all day. I survived fine and have not become overly clucky - despite being in the prime of my child producing years. Melanie (once a University friend of mine, now mother of the delightful Amy and Daniel - little cry baby) drove to Tauranga to met with Tracy, Greg (affectionately known as Treg and Gracy) and baby number 3 of the day - the lovely Antonia. (Who felt somewhat usurped I think with the arrival of two other cuties...)

The - "I will only eat fresh fruit and vegetables" regime was put on hold - and we shared fish and chips on the Tauranga harbour. Oh sooooo delicious.

kayaking

2004-11-06T17:38:00.000+13:00

Ahhhhh - Lake Okeraka - a couple of kayaks - Katie and Jenni enjoying life! Yay!
The best bit was going through the caves!

2004-11-03T19:36:00.000+13:00

Cindy Lauper and Madonna in Central New Zealand home

2004-11-02T23:40:00.000+13:00

Shocked outside the Shag Shoe Shop in Melbourne

i'm a winner!!

2004-10-31T22:39:00.000+13:00

Woke up at 7.55 am on Friday morning to a panicking Mother! Darting around, phone in hand - her work colleague had phoned to say that she'd just heard my FULL NAME on our local radio station and yes.... I had 9 minutes and 55 seconds to phone the radio station and claim my prize!! And guess what? I did it!!! Sleepy and all - and by crickey I was good on air too!!! Well - the whole ordeal won me a free trip to Brisbane, Surfer's Paradise!!

Three weeks prior to this - my friend Helen and I had been to the movies - entered my name in this draw. Anyway - the only condition of all of this.... was that if I won, I had to take Helen with me!! Hee hee - so we're off to sunny Surfer's in December! Brilliant huh?

light at the end of the tunnel

2004-10-21T21:08:00.000+13:00

For the past three weeks I have been working (hmm: despairing?) with a young primary school choir in my home town - Rotorua. They are preparing a number of items for their school musical Cinderella. And this afternoon, it was as if the fairy godmother had sprinkled her silvery dust over their little heads. My wee buttons sang not only IN TUNE, not only WITHOUT WORDS, not only with EXCELLENT POSTURE AND VOICE CONTROL..... they also SMILED..... Ahhhh: There is a God.

Such a transformation! I mean this was really pumpkins to coach stuff that I saw this afternoon. Three weeks ago.... a motley bunch in front of me..... perhaps enthusiasm making up for any losses in concentration.... hmmmm.... more interested in the colour of the light on the keyboard amplifier than in improving the tunefulness of their vocal leaps... today however - there was NO COMMENT about the keyboard amplifier, my everlasting lipstick, OR whether little Sandra really did like little Sam.... instead I had before me the Rotorua version of Kings College Chapel Choir..... and it was oh so good to be standing in front of them. A little miracle.

a fabulous weekend

2004-10-17T19:20:00.000+13:00

A medieaval banquet out at Okatina Outdoor Centre, a 50th birthday, walks and a soak in a natural spa..... my kind of weekend.

The highlight of the occasion was teaching my father, dressed as Friar Tuck, to do Michael Jackson moves and shake his booty! And - he was sensational!

progress

2004-10-16T11:10:00.000+13:00

I am now onto level 3 on the cross trainer AND the bikes at the gym......

tram-spotting - reflecting on my trip to Melbourne

2004-10-08T21:15:00.000+13:00

The end of the road for the tram in Auckland was 1957. Apart from dealing with the odd trolley bus in Wellington earlier this year, my experience of dealing with extraneous moving objects while commuting has been limited to other cars, bi-cycles and the odd pram. And yes - I have always managed to avoid major accidents simply by keeping left and well charged on energy drink.

Melbourne however was different for both myself and travelling companion Bronwyn. We negotiated between us an arrangement of exchanging the tasks of navigating and driving our Mitsubishi Lancer Rental Car(MLRC for future reference) between ourselves. After a successful commute from the Airport to Patterson Lakes (a small suburb a fair distance from the airport) and a couple of roadtrips to country areas we had a certain vigour and new found confidence in ourselves..... AND wearing everlasting lipstick, the both of us would conquer every facet of this city!

I had noticed the trams in the center of the road - yes.... and they simply kept to their tracks, and we stayed in our lane. Nothing could be more simple.

Hmmmm - except for the right turn.

Now my understanding - and indeed Bronwyn's understanding - of the right turn maneouveur is to indicate, move to the CENTER of the road, wait for a gap in traffic and move. Hee hee - but this doesn't take into account the humble tram. And..... we didn't take it into account either. Hmmm - and we were notified of this, (sandwiched between TWO TRAMS) by a civil, yet oh so very Australian tram driver - "Driver of the MLRC, you need to be on the left hand side of the road barrier".... eeeeeeeeeek: we couldn't move. Next - the tram driver actually got OUT of the tram, and came to pay us a personal visit: "You ladies from out of state or something?" - ...."We're from New Zealand" (cheesy grins and revealing as MUCH everlasting lipstick as possibile)... next came "Driving in Melbourne 101 and not getting butted by trams" according to happy Harry the tram man.

Hmmmm..... much easier if roads are for cars - trains are for tracks.... and prams, trams and other moving objects stay right out of the equation.

all class to me...

2004-10-03T16:16:00.000+13:00

Ahhh Fortune smiled on me last weekend - for once her wheel was in my favour. Was checking in with my best friend at the Air NZ counter after a week long girly trip to Melbourne (more about THAT later) when we were told that there were not enough seats left in economy for us to sit together. Graciously, (we had both had our quiet times that morning) we said - "no problem, we can sit separately" when then lovely lady from Air NZ (who had obviously eaten her peas and carrots the night before) said those immortal words...."hold on a moment - I'll see what I can do".

A few phonecalls later, and the inquisitive answer to the question we didn't hear..."oh - yeah....(looks us up and down) REASONABLE...." we were upgraded to Business Class. (I might add that there were only two class distinctions on this flight - economy and business - so infact - this was an upgrade to the HIGHEST class of travel possible on this particular occasion)

Hee hee we played ladies! Oh la de da. The trick was, of course, to make it look like we ALWAYS travelled first class. Well, I was staggered when the air hostess asked me if she could take my coat - my coat has never been "taken" in its life before.... and the thought of it hanging up in an airline wardrobe was almost too overwhelming for it. (I do hope it doesn't now have expectations of surprise trips to the dry cleaners or the like)

I am still having difficulty deciding whether I liked the King Prawns, accompanied by a wee tipple of champagne, or the cheese board the most from the three course meal. And - I had difficulty deciding whether I should keep my eyes focused on the main movie screen - or my portable dvd player with personal movie playing - or infact whether I should be reading a newspaper from some exotic location. And - you guessed it, I blew my cover - am working class through and through - I tried to do ALL of these activities at once. ahhh dear....

The moral of the story my friends, is that when travelling - always, always, always DRESS UP - not DOWN.... and buy everlasting lipstick - it will never fail you.

on being dumped for a computer

2004-09-15T20:20:00.000+12:00

I took my little 'neice' Abby out this afternoon - she had a half day at school. I envisaged that we would have a lovely 'bonding' time together at the playground after a picnic lunch. Instead, Abby requested that after lunch I drop her off at her Dad's work so she could play on the internet!!!!

I am still recovering from this blow to one's self-esteem!!! And - quietly getting to know my computer more intimately....

The value of 5 cents....

2004-09-15T20:12:00.000+12:00

Well - the humble 5 cent piece is going to disappear from NZ currency soon..... this means of course that most of the contents of my piggy bank will now be worthless and that a packet of crisps will now be $2.80 instead of $2.75. Apparently it costs 4 cents to make a 5 cent coin and that we've been wasting a lot of money in creating the coin.

I will miss the 5 cent piece - along with milk tokens, primary school and new editions of Footrot Flats cartoons. 5 cent pieces are also useful when you have lost your guitar pick....

how to catch a guy according to my mother....

2004-09-14T13:06:00.000+12:00

Just had a word of advice from my mother - evidently this is what I should be doing:

1. Keep your options wide open - YOUNGER guys are all right (lol) - not sure how young she meant here....

2. Get involved in the kitchen after church functions!! (crazy!!! - this is apparently going to help!!!)

3. Change schools - ie: working at an all girls school with few male teachers limits the opportunities for the workplace hunt!!!

judging by some of the clothes I wore when Mum dressed me - I won't be following this advice too closely....

on internet overuse syndrome....

2004-09-13T20:39:00.000+12:00

hmmmm - looks like my laptop might be going with my mother to work tomorrow and I might be going to the gym!! we shall see....

speed dating......... and would you like fries with that?

2004-09-12T20:46:00.000+12:00

Speed dating: pay money to spend about 5 mins talking with 15 guys - select those you're interested in having future dates with, (check a 'yes' or 'no' beside each name) and get emailed if the selection was mutual.

Today met a young man who had 'checked a yes' in a box beside the name of one of my dear friends. I was to give the 'thumbs up' or not over a vegetarian burger at a local cafe. Hmmm - well, to his credit, he could speak in full sentences, asked interesting questions and paid for our dessert. He has been pursuing my dear friend for about three weeks now - (definition 'pursue': send text messages)

Well he performed well - did all the things that 'A Potential' should - trouble is..... he does not share my friend's world view or values. She's pretty keen though - and even....likes his son - ahhh, how complex life can be sometimes. I know the simple solution - "don't go there" - but our affections can be so easily persuaded....

Some things I think are best not to be hurried - and I wouldn't settle for a take-away when there could be a great restaurant round the corner.

MURDER AT WATERSDOWN!!

2004-09-12T20:32:00.000+12:00

WELL..... IT WAS ROG WHO MURDERED SIR ROGER

As it turned out, Rog's real name wasn't Rog at all - it was Fred. Fred Farfrummit - the last in the Farfrummit family line.... and he hoped by his deeds that he would recover his family's estate.... A proficient mountain climber, as it happened, Fred Farfrummit swung from the platform of the castle keep, and using his skill as a climber, passed a line over to Randy's balcony and looped it around one of the gargoyles. Using a key stolen from the secretary's desk he entered Sir Roger's bedroom. Relying on the strength that enabled him to save a stranded climber, he carried the groggy and unresisting Sir Roger to Randy's balcony and plunked the critter in the pool. If anything, the maneuver implicated Randy. Recovering his rope, Rog then returned to the platform and hastened into the Mansion for the cocktail party.

Hee hee: a fabulous night had by all.... and thanks heaps to my fabulous friends - Bronwyn, Greg, Tracy, Helen, Stuart, Wendy, Ester and Wynford for SO SO getting into the spirit of the evening!!

web cam!

2004-09-10T17:29:00.000+12:00

Wow - I had my first experience of a web cam today!!! My cyber-friend Robyn24 (who I met on a chat room) has purchased a webcam.... this means that I can now SEE her when we're chatting. (Still buzzing about it actually!) We also discovered that we could hear each other.... !!!

(so to all my cyber friends - go into msn and download the latest version of msn!!! - because very soon we might be able to chat without typing!!! cool huh?)

ps: this is a blog space - do feel free to post comments, or ideas etc.....

on becoming a rock star...

2004-09-09T18:42:00.000+12:00

It seems that tonight is going to be the night - it is the closest I am going to get to being a rock star. I have been preparing for this for most of my life. (Dancing in front of the mirror with a deodorant stick as a microphone and getting a friend to turn on and off the lights for a disco effect.) I have been asked to help the keyboardist in one of these happy clappy church bands....
not my style of church music to be honest.... but they certainly have some cool looking gear, and it might be a way of trying to realise this urge I have to be cool and hip. hee hee....watch out Elton John - here comes Katie! (ah-hem)

my murder party....

2004-09-08T17:58:00.000+12:00

It is my 30th birthday on Sunday.... the beginning of the end I'm afraid. I had always thought that somehow I would have 'everything together' when I turned 30. I would have a number of degrees after my name, be married to a hunky, sporty, sophisticated high income earner... have a beautiful house, a cute goldfish and own the complete set of the Beethoven piano sonatas. This however is not the reality. Instead, I happen to still be living with my parents and spending what is probably an excessive amount of time right now on the internet.

So - instead, I am going to pretend that I am rich and successful..... and to do so, am transforming our living room into a 1930s English Manor where my friends will arrive in character costume.... we are hosting a murder.

The guests are: Dr Malcom K.T Praktiss; Miranda T Sheets (known to close friends as 'Randy'), Roger S.B Astird, Dame Allison Bigh (writer of English mystery novels), Prosper Alvin Bates (lawyer), Donald J Brooks (city banker), Florence Wing Brooks (fashion model) and Eiaguielle R Aminmund (a confidential secretary.)

Will post on how it all goes....

....a poem I found today.... e.e cummings

2004-09-07T17:08:00.000+12:00

i am a little church (no great cathedral)
far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities
- i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest
i am not sorry when sun and rain make april

my life is a life of the reaper and the sower;
my prayers are praryers of earth's own clumsily striving
(finding and losing and laughing and crying) children
whose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladness

around me surges a miracle of unceasing
birth and glory and death and resurrection:
over my sleeping self float flaming symbols
of hope, and i wake to a perfect patience of mountains

i am a little church (far from the frantic
world with its rapture and anguish) at peace with nature
- i do not worry if longer nights grow longest;
i am not sorry when silence becomes singing

winter by spring, i lift my diminutive spire to
merciful Him Whose only now is forever
standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence
(welcoming humbly his light and proudly His darkness)

Id please...

2004-09-06T18:33:00.000+12:00

At the supermarket today I was asked to show evidence of my being over 18 so I could buy a bottle of white wine. (I am turning 30 next week.)

on new uses for the placenta....

2004-09-05T17:30:00.000+12:00

This afternoon found me Sunday strolling the streets of Rotorua, casually glancing in the odd tourist shop..... trialling the various cream testers, perfume testers and so forth. Now those of us who are familiar with Rotorua (the geothermal wonderland of the South Pacific) have learned to expect to see glass shelves stacked high with a variety of mud-products, soaps and packs. What captured my attention (and indeed, my imagination) today was the small container of cream placed between the manuka honey beauty products and kiwifruit inspired fruit infusions. It was a carefully packaged and marketed new beauty gimmick - placenta cream.

I do not know who's placenta was used in the making of this product. But it certainly claimed to work wonders on the skin. Being a fairly daring sort of person (...I would have managed to eat the piles of cavier set for the contestants in 'the Amazing Race') I applied the product, sparingly I must add, to my forearm. It smelt alright.... and up to now - I have not noticed any fungal growths appearing.

In Maori culture, there is a beautiful custom. The placenta of a new born baby is buried and a native tree is planted on the earth. The tree becomes a special tree for that child - it grows tall and strong. It is planted in good soil - earthed and nurtured. When the ravaging winds beat this totara it is steadfast. Tane Mahuta. King of the forest.

disappearing trolleys

2004-08-20T23:58:00.000+12:00

While packaging my selection of nuts in the self-serve section of the supermarket today, some sneaky snake snuck off with my trolley.... leaving me to either start my shopping again from the fruit and vegetables section or to inspect each and every abandoned trolley in each aisle as they confronted me. I chose the latter. So, nuts in hand I ventured forth in search of my lost one.

It was the first time that I have ever closely examined the contents of other peoples' trolleys to compare their chosen goods to mine. I would guess that most New Zealand households purchase carrots and apples, but my trolley was identifiable by a large bag of lemons and the absence of bananas. I managed to avoid any embarrassing confrontations by fellow shoppers who might have shown some concern with regards to my somewhat suspicious behaviour by trying to adopt a casual approach to the whole affair. After not so long, I discovered my trolley abandoned by the bread rolls.

Not a single item had been added to the cart - this trolley had hardly been mistaken for long, yet had covered some distance of our local Pak n Save.

One has to ask, if one mistakes someone elses trolley for ones own - do you go against the flow of supermarket traffic to return the said trolley to its original position, only to risk not finding your own trolley... ? Or is it best to cut your losses and abandon the beast and begin your shopping again?

audience...

2004-08-19T22:32:00.000+12:00

Being new to blogging... I find myself surprisingly self conscious with this medium. It is a similar experience to being a composer. To what extent is what we say/write influenced by the prospect or possibility (slim chance that it might be) of having an audience. Also who might that audience be? To what extent do I define/redefine myself according to my audience - and do I care anyway?

Wow my first ever blog!

2004-08-16T20:16:00.001+12:00

Friends of mine have been doing this blogging thing for a few years now... so here I am with a little time on my hands - beginnings....

Wow my first ever blog!

2004-08-16T20:16:00.000+12:00

Friends of mine have been doing this blogging thing for a few years now... so here I am with a little time on my hands - beginnings....