So I've been very slack...

At updating my blog! Apologies to anyone who might read it.

I kind of had (what I think is) a good reason lol. On our return from Australia - just a couple of days later, we found out we are expecting our first child!! Yay!! I didn't want to update (well, I REALLY REALLY wanted to update, but not let anything out. Just couldn't think of anything as exciting to write about) till we were through the first trimester. Baby is due 11 June and I'll be 16 weeks on Christmas day! We are very excited! Dave is so cute - he can't stop smiling when we talk about it :) We're undecided as to whether to find out what we're having or not. Dave wants to know but I think I'd like a surprise. We'll probably end up tossing a coin :)



We've had two scans - one at 8 weeks 4 days when it just looked like a little jellybean, and the one above at 12 weeks 1 day where it actually looks like a little person.

There's nothing very exciting to see - I don't have a six pack anymore :( and my tummy is growing little blonde hairs on it (STRANGE!) but other than that people who don't know me can't tell.

Our house plans are on hold for the next little while at least. I can't remember much else at the moment. Actually, I seem to be forgetting a LOT right now. Apparently there's such a thing as preggy brain so I'm able to get away with blaming some things on that. Work is great! Everytime I do anything a little bit blonde everyone just blames it on that!! Ha ha, so funny. Dave isn't quite as accomodating - he doesn't believe me ;) From what I've heard it doesn't improve once the baby arrives, just turns into baby brain.

We've done a couple of things towards organising things here. We've been given a set of drawers that Dave's Dad made when his older brother was born so Dave sanded and I painted them the other weekend. I went out and found some cute little silver teddy bear knobs :)
Dave spent last weekend (or the weekend before) putting up my new shed. Its almost 3m x 3m and is for me to store all the horse gear (which takes up quite a bit of room in our storage part of the barn). I'm loving having a little tack shed! So that gave us some more room on that side so we could move things out of the little extra room off the kitchen (I call it the 'cupboard' but apparently there's laws against keeping a baby in a cupboard lol) into the storage area to make room for baby stuff.

Home sweet home...

No, not really. More like cold wet barn after lovely warm Aussie. Hmmmm. Yes, we're glad to be home and the animals were very very excited to see us but we could easily have stayed for longer.




We had such a fabulous time!! I'm in love with Ricky's bike!! If you're a facebook friend of mine I've put some photos of our holiday up. I took over 350 (don't worry, there was no way I'd bore people with that many random shots - about 40 of them are motorbike related!)

We spent our first day and a half in Manly with Rick and Shani, mostly just catching up :)

And then we went to Brisbane - that's a story in itself!! What an adventure! With arrangements to stay with my little sister Hannah, and her partner Antz, we were greeted at the airport with "There's been a slight change of plans, we're homeless now". Great! Hmmmmm, what was I going to wear!? If that sounds random its because we'd booked cheap flights to Brisbane with carry on luggage only, which would be fine except that I'd only packed underwear because my allowance was taken up by some photo tiles I was bringing over for Hannah, and my handbag. Our other bag was packed with Dave's clothes. Oh well, at least I had the clothes I was wearing. We drove around for ages looking for somewhere to stay but all the places we found were fully booked "Don't you know there's a big bowling tournament on?" Um no! Obviously not! And "That big Church conference is happening this weekend." Sure, I knew that. Not. Eventually we found somewhere not too far away but it was a bit dodgy. There was one room with two double beds pretty much end to end. They only had vacancy for one night but at least we had somewhere to sleep! We spent most of the following day looking for another place to stay. We ended up driving for miles after finding a place on the internet. Again most places were fully booked so we were prepared to compromise on comfort a bit. We did not expect to walk in to a room with one double bed!! Where's the rest? It said 'sleeps 4'. We pulled a handle on the wall and a creaky smelly single bed folded out. Funnily enough, on the other wall was another folded up single bed. The bathroom was so scungy not even the boys would go in without jandals on!!
Aside from our accomodation dramas (by the Monday Hannah and Antz had found somewhere to move into - they had to buy airbeds though so we had something to sleep on!) we had a wonderful time and it was great seeing them again. Life is always full of laughs when my little sister is around :)


I got to go for a ride with Nikki (my old NZ eventing buddy) which I haven't done since she moved over with her horse in January. That was awesome, aside from being sickeningly hot! It was wonderful seeing how settled and happy she is, and how her horse is thriving over there! He's going better than I've ever seen him go!


Back to Sydney on the Tuesday afternoon and out for dinner down at Manly wharf. There's little baby penguins nesting there - soooo cute! We weren't allowed to take photos though.
We had such an awesome time with all of Dave's family. He's so much like his Dad! Same mannerisms and everything, but in saying that Ricky kind of reminded me of my Dad too :) Have I mentioned the bike? I looooove it!
Shani taught us how to play Skipbo and we had fun playing this several times during our stay. Really great time waster :)
We caught up with Glenda's sister Sandra and her daughter Sheree. They're so much fun. Sheree's gorgeous son Hunter entertained us with his animal impressions and just his general cuteness! He talks sooooo much. I didn't want to put beautiful baby Anya down - she's so tiny she could easily have fit into my hand luggage lol.
We also got to see my friend from high school who's been living in Sydney for the past few years and ate kangaroo!
I could write pages and pages about our stay in Sydney but I won't. We had the best time ever and are already looking forward to going back at the beginning of April for Sheree's wedding.
When the time finally came to say goodbye we put it off as long as we could (just under 20 minutes before our flight was due to leave lol). We rushed through the other side and everything was empty. It was so weird! They were waiting for us and everyone was already seated on the plane by the time we got on. Whoops! Probably just as well we didn't leave it any longer :)

Thinking 'bout things...

It's been a while since an update. So much has happened since my last post.

On Monday we attended a very sad but amazing funeral for my friend's youngest brother. He was 21 years old. The place was packed! There were young guys lining the walls all the way to the front, people crowding the foyer and even some outside. It was a stunning send off! I remember many years ago spending nights at her place and having to get her Mum to stop him annoying us. He'd grown up a lot since then. He always loved practical jokes :) I heard some funny stories during the service which really was a celebration of his life, rather than a mourning of his death. My friend was absolutely amazing and so strong during the few days beforehand. I have been totally inspired by her courage. What a remarkable young woman! I love her :)

On another note, we've changed our minds (again) about the house. At this point in time we have other priorities and if we get a house soon then great, but if not then it will happen when it happens.

We are off to Australia next Friday!! We land in Sydney at 7.30am and will spend the day, night and half of the following day with Rick and Shani. I hope we get to see Dave's cousin in that first little while too. She had a baby on Saturday and I can't wait to have cuddles! We're heading to Brisbane on the Saturday afternoon to have a BBQ at my sister's place and crashing there for the night. She has exciting plans for us on the Sunday and we're spending Sunday evening with Muz - a good friend of Dave's and ex flatmate of ours :) On the Monday Dave's going to have 'boy time' and I'm going for a ride with my friend who lives over there. We're also going to catch up with another cousin of Dave's while we're over there before heading back to Sydney on the Tuesday to chill with Rick and Shani for the rest of the week.
We are so excited now! Can hardly wait to see everyone!! :)

9 days to go!!!

6 months in a leaky boat...

Hmmmm, well not exactly a boat - more like a barn, and quite a lot longer than 6 months! Lol. We've had our fair share of dramas with this weather bomb! Dave was at work on the first Saturday of the crazy weather when I realised that there seemed to be a lot of water inside. The floor was wet, the table was wet, the dresser was wet... I looked up and saw that an entire join in our roof was wet! I couldn't find a bucket, so put measuring jugs and mixing bowls and anything else I could find out to catch the drips. One of the ones in the bedroom was the worst! The measuring jug was half full in an hour and a half!! I texted Dave and told him not to panic but to bring home as many buckets as he could find :) Once he was home, things were looking much prettier - we had matching red buckets stationed throughout our living quarters!
The road to get to our house from State Highway 16 was underwater for a couple of days. Check out the photo! Fortunately that's not our only way to get to civilisation - yay for back roads!! It was quite amusing when we had visitors coming up to visit in the rain, texting that they couldn't get past the flood!

On another note... we have final plans and contracts for our house! It'll be feeling real soon... probably more so once we've handed over the first payment lol! We've got to actually read them though, so far we've only looked at the pictures! Then we'll get a lawyer to look over them before we sign. Hopefully we'll have a house not too far away from Christmas. Ideally it will be finished while I'm still on school holidays (just to make moving easier) but we're not going to stress if that's not the case.

We've booked our holiday to Australia and are very excited about this! We leave here in the early hours in the morning of Friday 26 September. We have to be at the airport at 3.50am so it'll be a VERY early start for us. I'm so excited I'm crossing off the days on the calendar!! 52 days to go!

A bit on the side...

So I've started up a little business and it is running quite well. I really should make it all official and learn how to us MYOB or something similar. At the moment I've been pretty busy - there's nothing like Murphy's Law lol. Recently I was moaning a little bit about not having much work on because the weather is gross and no one is going to want to have lessons in the rain etc etc etc. Anyway, now that the school holidays are almost over I have hardly had a break!! Not that I'm complaining at all, I love it!! I've had one pony living up here to work with every day and another at the pony club to do a bit of schooling with too. Somewhere in between those two I still had to find time to ride my horse!! But I don't get paid for her, so she has to come second (or in this case third) for a bit. I've also got a few lessons lined up for the next couple of weekends, and am looking forward to them :) All of this money from my little bit on the side is going towards our 'Going to Australia' fund. I'm so excited!! We're heading to Sydney to see Ricky and also to Brisbane to catch up with my little sister and some friends of ours.
Speaking of money, and every little bit helping, I've been trying to think of ways to save money (you know, building a house is going to be an expensive process lol) but this is a topic we don't really agree on. I have what I think are really good ideas and Dave just laughs. Let me share... As I'm sure you will agree petrol prices are CRAZY!! We don't really want to sell the truck because we use it for pulling the harrows around the paddocks and I use it to tow the horses around. But it is not proving to be very economical in day to day running, so we're considering getting a third vehicle. Hmmmm, I'm thinking 3 x WOF, 3 x rego, 3 x insurance... and am not overly keen on this idea (although I did find a really styly looking Spitfire on Trademe today). So I suggested getting a bombproof horse (mine is FAR from that), leaving my current school and moving to a closer one so I can just ride there. I wouldn't have to worry about fuel costs then and we could use the car for weekend running about. Well, it made sense in my head but Dave thinks it's a dumb idea.
I've found a few websites that have some pretty good savings ideas too and have even started masquerading as a domestic goddess. The other day (when I actually had some time) I made my own muesli with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cranberries, apple, banana and apricot. It was GOOD!! I've been making bread and meal planning before going food shopping. When we have a house we're going to plant some fruit trees and have a little vege garden too. We'll be real country bumpkins then!!

Playing Tarzan

We went to the Tree Adventures place in Woodhill over the weekend. What a cool place!! And so close to where we live too!
There are 8 courses in total, progressively becoming higher and more difficult. We did all 8 and had an absolute ball! At the end of each course is a flying fox to return you to ground level so you can start the next course.

The last 2 courses have a minimum height of 1.4m and I'm 1.55m and found them a LOT harder than the previous courses. I tried to imagine being only 1.4m and figured it would be a struggle :)

J Rock!!

I took 10 kids into town yesterday for J Rock (the primary school version of the Smokefree Stage Challenge) and have already decided that we are soooooo entering next year. We were in the Activate group - which is an introduction to J Rock (10 schools took 10 kids each to be a part of the opening performance. The kids worked with 3 choreographers from Unitec to put together an 8 minute dance). It was awesome, and watching them perform last night you wouldn't have thought they'd all just met and learned it all on the day :)

The organisers were amazing and the whole day went so smoothly. The kids were kept busy all day and when they weren't dancing there were competitions and games in which they could participate. It was just such a great experience, for teachers as well as the kids! I was highly impressed with the choreographers :) They are not teachers yet they managed to get 100 kids who didn't know each other to work cooperatively, follow instructions and perform in front of a huge audience.

What a fantastic day! I am soooo looking forward to next year when we're going to have a dance team entered. Now.... to think of a theme, ideas for music and start working on choreography (Not that we need a year to get ready, but we're all still on a high!)

My first tangi experience

Even though we were half expecting the call, it still came as a shock to hear that Aunty Shirley had passed away. We went to visit and see how everyone was doing on Thursday evening. I couldn't believe how many people were there. Downstairs was a hub of activity - ladies in the kitchen preparing food, tables laden with a huge spread and people everywhere, inside and out. Shirley was lying upstairs and she looked so beautiful - hair, make up and nails all immaculate. It was so great to see her like that! I was a little nervous about going upstairs to see her but am glad that I did. We went up with Ricky (my FIL) and it was lovely and quiet up in the lounge. We stayed a few hours and took Friday off work to spend with the family.
Friday was amazing. People came and went all day. The ladies in the kitchen just kept on churning out food - glorious food! Shirley had so many visitors and was so obviously loved by so many people. I spent a lot of time upstairs on Friday, not huge blocks of time but went up regularly, just to sit in the lounge. On Friday night everybody came upstairs and sat around Shirley. Her sister started the evening off by sharing a couple of stories about their childhood. A few other people shared stories too. There was a lot of laughing and some crying. It was such a happy sharing time - really lovely. Most people slept in the lounge on Friday night but we came home because of the animals.
We got up early on Saturday and headed straight back to the house. A lot of people had gone home for showers when we arrived, but those who were there were all busy. The morning passed quickly and soon it was time to go upstairs. People sat around talking quietly and all of Shirley's brothers and sisters sat around her coffin. The kids put some pictures and poems in with her and before we knew it the undertaker was there. The Kaumatua said a prayer and they put the top of the coffin on. The men carried her outside, down the steps and put her in the hearse.
The funeral itself was beautiful. It was such a lovely service. People who knew Shirley well spoke, and some of the stories they shared were the same as we'd heard the night before. Shirley had joined a support group when she'd first been diagnosed and had written her life story. An exert from this was read during the service. This was so lovely, and so special. Afterwards they released some doves outside the chapel. It was just beautiful :)
We went to the private cremation and that was probably the hardest part.
When we got back to the house the Kaumatua said a prayer and then we all went inside for the tramping. I'd never done this before and it was a nice feeling walking through the house, touching all the walls.
This was the best funeral I have ever been to, and I think it was probably everything Shirley would have wanted. The strength and love shown by her family is just amazing.
Rest in peace Shirley

Living it up in the barn...

So winter is on the way and the weather can get pretty wild up here on top of our mountain. We've been putting in a lot of thought as to what we're going to do about a house. We've looked at relocating but have decided to build new (yay for shiny new things!) I have done a lot of research and looked at lots of different companies, comparing price, inclusions, exclusions, house plans etc... I've visited show homes for several different companies and have even talked Dave into coming along and checking out some places. We've decided on an Express home from GJ Gardner and that will all be happening very soon.
We've been approved by the bank to borrow more money (hope interest rates are on the way down) and are ready to go. It is going to be a long process but once the earthworks are completed and the slab is down it should only take 12 - 14 weeks. We could have a new house for Christmas!!! I hope so :)

Poor Knights

Just had to share - I had the most amazing weekend ever! We went up on the Friday with a group of people who were doing the advanced course and stayed in this massive house just down the road, in Pacific Bay.

On the Saturday we were up early and out to the boat and the weather was crap (please excuse my language). It was windy and drizzly and the boat was rocking as we got on, before we had even left! It took an hour and a half to get out there and after a few minutes out of the marina Bruce (the guy with the boat) asked us if we wanted to turn around, but everyone decided it would be fine. Hmmm, there was one girl I think may have been regretting that decision as she chucked over the back of the boat later. The tanks banged around the whole way out there. It was my first time getting everything organised on a boat and I found it quite difficult with everything moving around, I could hardly stand :) Butterflies were on a rampage in my stomach, my heart was pounding and my knees trembling (more with anticipation than fear lol) I had to hold on to the silver bar to steady myself against the violent swaying - it was soooooo hard standing at the back of the boat. I took my last few breaths of natural air before closing my mouth over the regulator and sucking in. It was uncomfortable and salty. 3, 2, 1. I wasn't too worried about stepping off the boat and totally trust Marcus (I don't know any better and I kind of have to trust him lol) even though we'd seen a shark on the way out. One giant clumsy stride and I was in the sea! So blue! So clear! So many bubbles! I swam over to those waiting in the water and we got SORTED. S - signal (down), O - orientation (boat), R - regulator in (already in, I didn't plan on getting rid of that anytime soon!) T - time (11.20am), E - equalise, D - descend. I let a little bit of air out of my BCD and felt myself gently float down a little. I could see the bottom! White sand and rocks below us, golden seaweed rippling gently in the current. My eyes must have been so wide as I took in my surroundings! Marcus came over to check that everything was alright and I gave him the ok sign. Everything was so quiet! There was not even an inkling of what the weather was doing above us. We were in our own world, at one with our thoughts. I couldn't believe the abundance of fish - silver, blue, black, orange, pink - all were unphased by our presence. There was a little moray eel curled around a rock, so close I could have touched him if I'd wanted to. He didn't seem to notice us just above him. I think I sucked through my air quite quickly on that first dive but oh my God, it was just the coolest experience ever! I couldn't believe how colourful everything was and how much we could see! That first dive was at McKenzie cove and we saw a stingray below us. Our next dive was at Rikoriko cave and we saw what I thought was a massive long tailed stingray but apparently it wasn't huge. It was soooooo beautiful to watch - just amazing! It was really cool swimming out of the cave into the light. The most difficult part was getting back onto the boat in the cave. It was very rough and I was getting bashed around the ladder but was just buzzing from the experience. I was feelng a lttle queasy by the time we got home, and was not looking forward to Sunday's boat trip. Luckily the weather was better, but it still took almost an hour to get out there. Apparently on a good day, it's a 20 minute trip. This time the girl who was sick stayed at home and we had a new guy come with us. He was sick. My stomach felt a bit strange but luckily was ok. I think it was just the fact that my insides had been churned around for two days in a row. I noticed that the tanks didn't bang around as much. Our first dive on Sunday was at Jan's tunnel and it was even more amazing than Saturday. There were thousands of fish, all different colours and sizes and we were right in the middle of them. They were all around us and above, and below and they weren't even scared of us! It was just incredible and sooooooo beautiful. There was a big snapper who I think was sleeping and Marcus swam right up to him before the fish noticed and darted away. I had to put my hand onto my regulator to stop it falling out from laughing. We went to blue maomao arch for our last dive and wow! Stunning! We swam through the arch and also through a little gap. I was a bit hesitant not quite sure how I was going to fit, but realised that Marcus is bigger than me and he fit through just fine so in theory I could too :)

I had so much fun. It is just a whole other world and so peaceful. I can't wait to go again, although I think it will be summer before that happens. I was happy that I didn't have any trouble with my ears as I had been quite worried about that. I could equalise quite easily. My nose bleeds a tiny bit though - I don't know why. It did on my first dive in the lake too. I don't know whether it did this time because of something I was doing or because I'd been sick, but it's not much and it doesn't hurt. At first, I had trouble going down. On Saturday Marcus had to give me a pull to get me past the first couple of metres but by Sunday, I'm not sure what I did differently but I had it sorted. I had the same weight both days (8kg). Maybe I was more relaxed or something. I found it really cool that I could actually just focus on my buoyancy control (I still have a lot to learn there lol) and could concentrate on breathing in and out and feeling the difference just using my lungs. Even though we practiced this I had so many other things to think about that I don't think I quite got it. I am getting better and I'm still on a high :)

Lake Pupuke Part 2

I had a couple of little issues yesterday.

I started the first dive with the hood on but couldn't equalise so Marcus (I don't think he's a trained instructor, but he's a very experienced diver and dives with Vaughan - our instructor, all the time. He came out with us both days) suggested trying without the hood, which was a bit better. I made my nose bleed a little bit - maybe I was squeezing it too hard :) I can't remember which skills we did today because there was only one I was really worried about and that wasn't till the afternoon.

I was absolutely freezing for most of the second dive and Vaughan wanted me to come back another day for the mask removal skill cause he knew that was the one I was worried about. He thought I wouldn't be able to concentrate because I was shivering so much. The mask removal thing really frustrates me. I don't know what it is about that. Sometimes it's not a problem and then randomly I'll breathe in through my nose. Taking it off and putting it back on is fine, it's just clearing it afterwards, and not all the time. It's really weird though because it's not a problem when I'm just clearing my mask. It's only random, and it only happens after I've put the mask back on. I had to do the compass navigation underwater, and that was a bit crooked because my hands were shaking so much :) I only had mask removal left to do and we went up so Vaughan could talk to me. I really really wanted to do it then so he said we could have one try. I was rushing and he was right, I wasn't concentrating and had to go up. At the surface I said if I could have one more try I'd get it. I know in my head if I need to cough I can still do that under the water, I know that I can swallow some water and still breathe without having to come up. It's just psychological at the time. Luckily he agreed, but he was serious that I had to go in after this try. Even my knees were shaking. We went back down and the whole time I was thinking in my head there is no way I am not finishing this today. I am not coming back to the lake for one skill. I can do it and I know how to do it. There is no reason I shouldn't get it right. I did everything really really slowly, thinking carefully about every little thing. Mask off, easy. Mask back on head, easy. Mask back over face - almost, not quite, almost, not quite. I didn't try to rush it, I sorted out my hair and made sure everything was right. I took a couple of slow breaths thinking through the clearing part. I did it in two blows instead of trying to do it in just the one. Cleared half my mask and took a couple of breaths before doing the rest. Wow! I was`so relieved. High five under the water!! It was such a cool feeling and I could see that Vaughan was happy too. Yay!! Hopefully I won't ever lose my mask, and if I do, I just have to remember to sort it out slowly, lol!!

I had to go to school afterwards for a meeting which was a bit of a downer but after the meeting I went over to Vaughan's and had coffee with him and his wife, logged the last dive cause I didn't have time earlier, and got my paper 90 day temporary dive card. How cool is that!! Yay, I'm a certified open water diver now!!

Two weeks and we're off to Poor Knights :)

Lake Pupuke

I had soooooooo much fun today!! I had a semi dry suit on and a vest underneath and I found that much warmer during our first dive. Usually I get quite cold (apparently my lips go blue lol). I've got a hood and gloves for tomorrow though, cause when we did our second dive after lunch I was freezing! The water was 21' so I don't know why I was so cold. It was a thousand times better than in the pool! It was much better than just seeing the blue concrete of the pool :) We could see probably only 3 - 5 metres so that was ok, it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. The first time we just went for a swim around and didn't do any skills. There was sooooo much to look at - weeds and chains and a rope (which took me a while to realise that we were probably following that so we knew where we were lol). I think I was chewing on my regulator! They were laughing about it at lunchtime because I was hanging onto it! After lunch we had some skills to do before we could go for another swim. This time I had a bit of trouble equalising but when I did get down there I was a lot more relaxed and it went quite well. When I did get out, I couldn't stand or walk - my legs were like jelly :)

The coolest part would have to be coming up when we were near the surface and just floating up towards the light with heaps of bubbles all around. I can't wait till Anzac weekend!! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow :)

Ready for open water???? Apparently...

I have just got home from my last confined water dive and I thought I would get this done before I forget anything...

We've done heaps of skills and apparently are ready for our open water dive next weekend. It's going to be so much fun!

Today we practiced taking off and putting on our weights on the surface and underwater, and we did the same with our BCD. We had to do a no mask swim for a minute and then put the mask back on. That felt a bit weird, I didn't realise how quickly you get used to things - swimming without the mask was kind of strange.

Last week we did the tired diver tow and practiced having our air turned off and using our buddy's alternate air source. We also practiced breathing with a free flowing regulator. That was really cool - I was surprised how easy it was. In my head I couldn't see how it would work without drinking a whole lot of water, but when it came to actually doing it, it wasn't a problem.

When I came home after our very first dive, I was completely knackered and fell asleep on the couch. I was buzzing from it though! At the moment I can only imagine how amazing it is going to be on our open water dive :) I was surprised at how loud everything is underwater - when the train goes past and when other divers get into the water, it's like thunder!

We've done other skills too, but at the moment I can't think of them.

When I say we, I'm talking about the group of teachers doing the course :)

Scuba and me?!

I'm learning how to dive!! I put my name down with a couple of other teachers when the opportunity came up and now I'm shaking in my boots! I only learned to swim last year and am not feeling overly confident. I need to be able to swim 200m and that'll probably be the hardest thing for me (says she who has absolutely NO idea what breathing underwater entails!).
This is already proving to be a lot of extra work - I've got just as much homework as the kids in my class! Considering I knew nothing, I'm feeling like I've learned a lot already, but I know how many chapters are left in the book and so can only imagine how much more I've got to learn.

Beginning my blog...

I've just decided to start keeping an online diary. This year has been crazy busy and is going to get even busier so my thinking is that this is an easy way for all those we love who are living overseas to keep up with everything that's happening for us.
Admittedly, this is a very one sided version of things, so every now and then Dave will balance it out with a much calmer train of thought.
Enjoy looking at life from my point of view...