Basketball

So last night, I went to watch the BCM boys play basketball down in Lower Hutt. A first for me even sitting through a whole game of basketball, but I managed to work out enough to follow the games fairly well.

The first one I watched was a final between two teams (the boys were on duties - reffing and such) and was highly entertaining, due in part to Tiko reffing but having no clue what he was doing and to the presence of a tall American player who proceeded to tell the ref and/or scorekeeper if something wasn't up to scratch. His team was leading for the whole game - that is, until the very end when the two teams were tied ... and the other team scored one extra point in the last 20 seconds due to a foul. Gutted for American's team, but yay for the other team (that I had been secretly cheering for because 1, they were always chasing; and 2, the American got more heated when they got close on the scoreboard.)

Anywho, I had actually attended to be the cheerleader/photographer for the History Book, plus it was a good night out, though I was quickly reminded on arrival of a particular male smell that I could have done without. I also had a couple of slightly embarrassing moments - the only one I will mention is when I went into the men's toilets, thinking it was the ladies. Oops.

The BCM team had made it to the semi's - yay - but gracefully lost by a narrow margin (of about 50 points lol.) Nonetheless, t'was a good evening out. Enjoy a few of the photos:

Last night's team:
Murray in the back; in the middle is Big Tim, James, Perry, Lachie, Bert; and in the front is Beau, Aaron and Tiko.

Mid-Winter Christmas Dinner

Lachlan, Tiko and the team fully outdid themselves with preparing, cooking etc our first annual (at least since I've been here) Mid Winter Christmas Dinner. Ham, chicken, veges ... mmmmmhmm. Good times.

Clockwise from top left: Cody and Reuben eating; Julie showing her hidden talent - cartwheels - much to the delight of all the kids; Tiko doing the dishes; Monique looking up from the servery.
Clockwise from top left: The room; The Grinch came to try and steal the presents but got fully ambushed by the kids; Me and Reuben; Kayla eating dessert.
Clockwise from top left: Anastasia asleep at her first Christmas; The boys serving; Sue, Annette and Kylie eating; Shelley playing carols for our sing-a-long; Emily the Angel (how adorable!)

Boys will be Boys

Shelley parallelled it to cats feeling the need to mark their territory by urinating. The temptation to put little fingers in wet cement. What am I talking about, you may ask?

I only shot home briefly to get changed before heading to Shelley and Tiko's for dinner when there was a knock on my door and I was greeted by Ethan, Simeon, Christina, Kendal and Naomi. Five angelic faces who stayed in my house for all of a minute or two before I kicked them out, telling them I was about to leave.

Unbeknownst to me, either Kendal or Naomi (as yet still unsure) fell of my front steps onto some still-wet concrete curbing that had recently been put down. And the pull was too strong for the boys.

As I came out a couple of minutes later, something caught my attention - I believe it was the words "Ethan" and "Simeon" written in the cement. Shelley and I tried to fix it (not really that successfully.)

Simeon was hiding out at the Brays but confessed when Tiko told him to think about his answer, and Ethan denied any participation at first ... until ex-cop dad Lachlan read him his rights and told him willful damage has a $1000 fine and 3 months imprisonment.

But I was disappointed. If you are going to write in wet concrete, the last thing to do is use YOUR names. Seriously Tiko and Lachie - what are you teaching your boys?

Home Makeover - GFW's styles

Yesterday, some of my session had an extended morning tea as we had no class following it, and so as Janine left, she asked us to pass a message to visiting Commissioner Phil Needham that their house was open. I smiled slyly but she didn't notice. We quickly passed on the message and split, agreeing to meet up at our lovely Training Principal's home armed with glad wrap, toilet paper, confetti and post-it notes, and spent the better part of the half hour rearranging the lounge, kitchen etc., and doing it all over.

Mwa ha ha!

I wanted to blog about it yesterday but didn't, trying to keep my anonymity, however my cover was blown this morning when Robert saw me. Darn this beautiful honest face. I just can't not smile!

The Kitchen. He he - I rearranged some of the cupboards too. And I hope they looked in the microwave!

I think my job here is done. Paki paki.

Comm. Phil Needham's only request was that we save a seat for him to sit in. (NB - the cabinet to the right was not only glad wrapped around it, but every dish inside was done individually also. Hehe.)

The New Kitchen

Yes, I am now the proud owner of a clean, modern and fully operational new kitchen. Of course, it hasn't always been the case, even once the kitchen was installed.

See, for the last three days I have been eating at Sue and Si's or via my microwave because while the gas to the oven was working, it would not ignite. So at about 10pm last night, I figured I would have one last looksy at it before I would fill out a maintenance form for Jill about it, only to then discover the cause ... cue drumroll ... there is a switch where the oven plugs into the wall that needs to be turned ON.

Grief. Sheesh.

So outside of the holiday aspects, I have found the last three or so weeks incredibly tough going. It's been a year since Uncle Bob died, and a year today since Nana died.

Mum even took me to the GP up in Hamilton to check in case I had depression (which it turns out I don't, but he thinks I have been 'repressing' my grief and my body is starting to react now). I was relieved to hear I wasn't going crazy, which was a fear I had secretly been holding, but this whole having to deal with things sucks!

And then yesterday Joe and Nan (the Maori Ministries leaders for TSA in NZ) came out to College. I haven't seen them since Lester's funeral at Christmas time and when Joe sang man I heard Lester. So for the first time, I cried for Lester too. (Lester was kind of an adopted uncle).

It's funny though. Today was the day I've been dreading most and while I haven't had a good cry yet, it's the first day I'm feeling like there is a light at the end of this tunnel. What a tough journey though. Sheesh.

Home Sweet Home

Well it was nice being in Tonga, and wonderful being with Ma, Pa and Matt, but it is true that there is no place like home. I'll confess that my suitcase is still not fully unpacked (largely due to me trying to find some place to hang the humungous tapa that Helu gave me) and that I still feel sleepy all the time, but things are slowly getting back to normal with classes beginning again this morning. And who could forget the re-commencement of my wonderful exercise regime!!

It feels a little strange going into my last semester at College - it feels like only yesterday that I started - and I haven't quite got my head around the fact I am going to be an officer in 5 months time (God willing it all goes ahead!) I'm eager/excited/petrified to find out my first appointment and where I will be living.

Anywhos, hope you're all well, whatever you are up to - I'm off to have a nap and take some Panadol, and then get a little bit of work done for tomorrow. Ciao.

My Tongan Holiday

So much to say! Basically, I got shouted a trip to the Friendly Islands of Tonga by Mum and Dad as an early commissioning present. Some of my old girld and friends from Hamilton were going back for their grandmother's 80th birthday and so I joined them for 8 days.

Lahti and Lu'isa had gone to Tonga before us, Lahti had then come home to NZ and left for Kenya where she is serving with Church Army on a 6 month mission (please continue to pray for her) and so it was just me, Natasha and Fina on the way over, my darling bro Matt taking us to Auckland Airport for an early flight, meaning we had to leave Hamilton at 3am. I was not impressed by this timing at all! But the adventure had begun.


MONDAY

Monday we pretty much catnapped all day, recovering from the early start and Tuesday we begin the exploration of the island, courtesy of the Siufanga Ma and Pa - Sila and Malia. The general impression I had of Tonga was that it was like South Auckland but spread out on an island setting - an impression I still held to the end of my visit. I loved all the coconut trees too - very tropical!


TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

Basically Tuesday and Wednesday we did the sights of Tonga. It is a gorgeous place with very friendly people.

Clockwise: Coconut Trees everywhere; The banana tree which fed me breakfast every morning, and a few other meals post-sickness (see below); The view from my seat in the Siufanga van as we traversed from one side of the island to the other.Clockwise: The views around Tonga. Top right is Sila at the spot where the first Christian missionaries arrived in Tonga. Sila called the fishermen there Peter, James and John. The beach on the bottom right is called Ha'atafu. Clockwise: We also visited the world famous Houma Blowholes; Me drinking from the coconut.
Clockwise: Natasha doing a mat (I helped a little too!); at Ha'amonga; me ballet dancing under Ha'amonga; Lu'isa scraping the coconut flesh off (I tried this too, and to a greater success than my brother I'm told!); Fina and Lu'isa have a late night ice cream.

THURSDAY

It started as a day of such promise but ended up gross. Natasha, Lu'isa and I went into Nuku'alofa to go shopping, and I spend most of my money on presents which I couldn't wait to get home to give out.

I asked if we could go to the 'Friends Cafe' which Janine had recommended, and as we stood outside there was a commotion coming down the street. Natasha told me the King of Tonga was coming. Prime opportunity for a photo, but I chose not to. Instead I waved with all my might and even got his attention (he turned to look at me). Natasha proceeded to yank my hand down and told me to run before the soldiers killed me, thus we took off running through the markets. Okay so she exaggerated a bit, but it turns out, you aren't even meant to acknowledge he is going by - Tash and Lu'isa broke the rules looking at him and me the palangi waving ... mortal sin! Haha.

Thursday night I won't go into in much detail other than I ate lobster which didn't agree with my stomach and there was mess to clean up on the bedroom floor, hallway and a whole lot of vomit in the toilet and bucket. Yuck.

Clockwise: Sila and the lobster; The Great Tongan Lobster battle of 2007; Lu'isa and I where I greeted the Tongan King; Tash laughing; Me.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

So Saturday we were off to Grandma's 80th Birthday Party. It started with a church service - all in Tongan but I sang my best anywho. My appetite still was yet to return by the time the feast was ready to begin and the entertainment was fab, with each of the families expected to have an item.

Sunday we were back at Helu's (Grandma's) for photos and family time. I was given a huge tapa from Helu which is a huge privilege (and an effort to fit into my suitcase!) I have it folded in half on my wall.

Clockwise Above: The crowds arriving; More food gets delivered; Coconut trees; Porky and his whanau were all over the tables. I didn't eat any myself but is a great feed for the others.

Clockwise Below: Natasha and Lu'isa; Some of the grandaughters dancing; Miriama; the Tongan officers "dancing unto the Lord"; Lisi.

Clockwise Above: Grandma Helu dances with some guy; Ngano; Teresa; Sila; Jo and Willy; Natasha and I.

I did crack up when some of the kiwi grandkids did the Waikato haka as an item (yay Moo Loo!) and Helu's brother yelled at them to get off the stage.

The dancing was incredible and I loved all the costumes. Brilliant.

Clockwise Below: Malia, Helu and Natasha; Natasha and Peta; Taiana and me (she told me I was very pretty - lifelong friends methinks!); Fina and Pepi; Taiana, Lou and Natasha.

Clockwise: Teresa, Tuialo, Keni and Inutoua; Girls galore; Sonasi learning the guitar.

Clockwise: Natasha and Taiana; Heading off to Fua'amotu; Leka, Natasha, Taiana; Sila feeding the pigs at the back of Helu's place.

It turns out that there is no 'r' in the Tongan language, so having a name like 'Corryn' proved a little difficult for some. The NZ and US raised grandkids got it righ 'Kirin', some of the extended family got 'Corrin', which is usual; With the 'r' and 'l' issue, I got a few 'Colin's, not to mention 'Colgate' and 'Chlorine'. But the overwhelming name had to have been 'palangi'.

We left Tonga at midnight their time last Monday, got through NZ customs to my dear old Dad about 3am NZ time, and back to Hamilton around 5am NZ time. Shattered. My dear Father was exhausted because he had also made the trip the night before, due to my mother getting the wrong date and time that we were arriving home, much to her amusement!

So at least now you are a little bit more up to date with my travels. I will write again about Tonga (probably) but have had enough for today! Ciao.

Holidays

Well yip...as the title suggests we finally made it to holidays. I've been overseas, hence the big break from blogging, and then the internet connection at Mum and Dad's has been playing up so ... sigh.

I got to Hamilton just over 10 days ago, after the worst turbulance I had been in in awhile - the surprising factor being the worst of it was nearer Hamilton than Wellington! Even to the point that men were holding the arm rests! By the sounds of some ladies several rows behind me, they thought we were going to die, and I found myself in a 'peace' bubble, and nearly laughing out loud - it was kind of surreal.

Nonetheless I made it, shared my testimony during the Sunday morning service, and preached Sunday night. Didn't really enjoy the preaching if I am honest. It is true what they say about it being harder to preach to the 'home crowd'. It's kind of weird at the Corps - some things have changed heaps and others haven't at all.

Anywho, I headed home pretty much straight away to pack cos we left for Auckland to catch the flight to Tonga at 3am the next morning. More on that later...