Where to Start?

10 Apr 2007
Where to start?

So it's been a while since I blogged...here are some highlights from the past few months.I had a wonderful time in the States at the end of January. It was so good to see my family again. Mom is doing much better, but still not 100%. I was nervous to see her...I had this terrible image of the Crypt Keeper in my head, thinking that she would be skin and bones with no hair, and that perhaps she'd stopped wearing her dentures...I was scared that when I saw her, she would see that I was scared. But no! She was skinnier than I remembered, and her eyes were a bit sunken...but she looked good! She looked better than she did when I left Denver. She had a lot more energy than she's had in years (she even kept up with me on a marathon 2 hour shopping spree at Super Target!). She wasn't nearly as moody as she had been for...well, forever. It was really good to see her, and it took a lot of weight off my mind. It was great to see Dad and Chris, too. The three of us did the obligatory trip to Cheapo Discs. Perko, our 13 year old black lab with mad cancer, is still kickin' it, but barely. He's a miracle dog! My grandparents look old...but hell, they are! My grandpa walks with a cane now, but not any old cane...he found a big old pine branch in his yard, carved it and stained it, and stuck a peice of rubber on the end. He's the envy of all the other grandpas with that thing! It was FABULOUS to go shopping again...everything in NZ is so fucking expensive (about US$25 for bloody Maybelline mascara!) so I stocked up!

Really, though, it was just wonderful to see so many familiar faces...Colleen, Nicole, Andrew, Laura, Matt...I really do miss you guys!When I got back to Auckland, life went back to normal. My good friend Gentiana (who I met here in NZ a few weeks after I got here, but happens to be from Colorado) moved back to Auckland! I was (and still am!) so happy to have her around again!!!!! Bob and I went a bit topsy turvy for a while, but we got through and now things are better than ever. He and I headed to Wellington over Easter weekend and had a fabulous time...I didn't want to leave! Who knows, after I get residency sorted out, maybe I'll move down there!Speaking of residency...I'm on the road to another visa now. Last time around, the main issues were the medical exam and a major time crunch, considering I had to pull everything together (including my job! See previous blogs for info on that) in less than 3 months. This time, it's getting my background check from the FBI, which involves me getting my fingerprints taken here and mailing them back to the States. So many freakin' hoops to jump through! It seems easier just to overstay...I know I wouldn't be the only one! I'd just be the one who gets caught and deported.So that's about it for me these days...Just normal life. I wish I had some great adventure stories to tell, but no...unless finding a surprising amount of dog hair in a hidden crevice in my couch is exciting, then I have nothing, really.