This cold is completely kicking my butt. I've already been in bed for three days. Really would like to make it a fourth, but I have to get to work sometime, even if I have a feeling I may not make it through the day.

In addition to the usual stuffy/runny nose and cough (at the same time - fantastic), I've got no energy and a slew of body aches. I'm pretty sure I had a fever on Sunday, which wouldn't be a huge surprise, as that was day 1, but I think I had one last night, too. That's far less typical.

I am actually wondering if this is a different virus that what I usually get in the States, and maybe my body has less immunity to it. Or maybe I'm just lucky - my roommate said she had a really nasty bout with a cold shortly before I moved in where she had no energy, either.

Whatever, this sucks. At least I'm in a place with my own room instead of a hostel. And I don't have to move far to get to the soup, or the tissues.

I'm off to shuffle my way into work. Have a great day, folks!

We got snow on Saturday! Hooray! It was lovely.

I got sick on Sunday. Far less with the hooray, and it hasn't been lovely. Guess I'm paying for the cold temperatures with a cold virus.

So I've got another weekend where I didn't do anything. At least it's cheap.

You know, it's funny - while I'm a firm believer in embracing other cultures, especially when traveling, there's nothing quite like a link to home.

At work today, I ended up having a longer than necessary conversation with someone just because she's an American. Granted, it doesn't take that much for me to end up talking with someone, but still, adding a fifteen minute chat to the end of a legitimate business call probably isn't the most effective use of my time, nor hers. Though to be fair, she wasn't exactly rushing me off the phone, either. And she and her (also American) husband actually emigrated here a few years ago, so she apparently still feels the tie to the US even though she willingly moved.

I used to wonder at folks who chose (versus having to move for economic or political reasons) to move to different countries but still sort of clumped together with other expatriates from the same country. I think I get it now, even if I'm not sure I could put it into words.

For all that I've avoided calling Houston or even the States "home" lately, I think it some way it will always be - or at least for a really long time - regardless of where I chose to live or how much I love it there. Or maybe not - maybe it depends on how attached you are to the place you live.

I shouldn't go shopping when I'm either bored or depressed. I really shouldn't when I'm both.

Luckily, I have to haul home whatever it is I buy myself - no car, and it's only a ten minute walk to the shopping center. Having to tote home my groceries may be the most exercise I've gotten this week. It's been raining all weekend, so I've been staying inside on the computer. It's not exciting, but I wasn't in the mood to be frozen and soaked. I can tolerate one or the other if I have to, but I'm not volunteering myself for both.

Ah well, now I have the makings for this week's meals, so no excuse to eat out. I may anyway, at least once, just because, but I don't have to. My shelf of the pantry had gotten pretty thin.

I have done a bit this week. Went to see an exhibition at the art gallery on Morris and Co. on Wednesday night, which was pretty good, if a bit thin. Then saw a production of Arsenic and Old Lace on Friday night. I'd never seen it, so I was kinda excited to go - plus one of the gals I work with had free passes, so that was a nice bonus. And it wasn't too bad - the set was fabulous, the acting hit or miss, depending on who it was. There was one guy in particular who was a prime example of why Kiwis shouldn't try to affect a Brooklyn accent, but at least he didn't have that many lines.

Other than that, I haven't been doing much else other than working and messing around on the computer - and not in a productive way, either. Oh well.

Have a great week, folks!

I love looking at my page's footprints. The searches some folks use that get them here constantly amaze me. One of the recent ones was "i feel like going on a date with myself" - and sure enough, I was on the first page of results. At least the search was done without the quotes... that's not a phrase I can say I use all that often.

I'm super excited, since I did some (very long overdue) work on TripDiva.com this morning. There is content on all five sections now! (Yep, I'm being geeky-happy.) I posted destination guides on Central Ireland and the Travel Channel Academy - nope, didn't write one for New Zealand yet. That's probably sad, but there you go; I have to write what I feel moved to. Well, and I've had a bunch of people end up after searching for Travel Academy info, so I thought I better post something somewhat useful for those folks. I just didn't do it here.

And speaking of Ireland (I did in there somewhere), I did talk to friend Cat and tell her that I'm thinking of planning for that move. It'll be a bit, but I at least wanted to give her a heads-up that I'm thinking along those lines. I did have some fun telling her that I was offered a permanent job here, though. I got about two beats of silence from her, then "Well, what did you say?!" Guess I have to have my little dramatic moments here and there.

Well, I was going to do a bit of tramping, but the weather looks a bit crappy. It's just gray enough for me to think it might rain, but it may not. And I'm just not in the mood to risk it. Hopefully things will look a bit more promising tomorrow - I've been eating way too much sugar of late, and I need to work at least a little of it off.

Sorry for the randomness, people, but I'm just a bit all over the place at the moment. Probably has something to do with the aforementioned sugar...

Okay, I hate to whine, but damn it, I'm tired of being cold. Though at least today has been a bit warmer, since we got a good dose of cloud cover around noon which has hung around.

I've managed to acquire several long-sleeved and/or merino tops in an effort to keep warm. I was starting to feel a bit guilty, since I won't have much opportunity to wear them once I'm back in Texas, but I realized that if I do relocate to Ireland, they'll probably come in handy. The several pair of wool socks I've bought, too.

I've been quite tired lately - enough so that I've actually gotten a bit worried about it. I'm chalking it up to the change in season for now, and making sure to take my vitamins and get out in the sun for at least part of the day, but I really hope it gets better soon.

Miracle of miracles, I found acceptable Mexican food at a place right by the office. I've been craving it for ages now, but I do have a rule about not eating Tex-Mex outside of Texas. It's a rule one ignores at their own peril. But there's a place called the Mexican Cafe (nope, not terribly original) that does a passable job. Their salsa could have used some onion and a bit more jalapeño and cilantro, but the chips were decent. My chicken fajitas were over-marinated for my taste, but not bad, and the tortillas were okay - probably would have been better a bit warmer, but hey, it's winter. The rice was different - I think they used some lime juice or something in it, which isn't something I'm used to. And the beans were actually good, like some of the best I think I've had. I'm going to have to go again an evening next week and get something from the dinner menu, which had a whole lot more options than the lunch one, of course. But I'm pleased.

That's pretty much as interesting as things get here for now. Hopefully the weather will stay decent over the weekend so I can do a bit of tramping in the hills and maybe get a few photos. Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Merino itches. Not horribly, but it definitely causes a bit of skin irritation, especially along the seams of clothing.

Just thought I’d share.

I’ve been working for four weeks now. I’ve been in New Zealand for just a bit over two months. Tomorrow will be exactly one year since I touched down here last year. I have now been out of the country for longer than I ever have been before.

Time just keeps on ticking by, doesn’t it?

I had a bit of a freak-out moment earlier in the week; my current employer asked me if I wanted to take on a permanent position here. (Technically, my boss asked me last Friday if I was wanting to move to New Zealand, and I said I wasn’t. Found out this week she asked because she wanted to know if I wanted to stay on here, which I suspected but wasn’t sure of. So I count that as being asked if I wanted to stay on.) Now, being offered doesn’t change my plans, but it was a bit freaky.

When I started planning this trip, a bunch of folks said I’d find a guy and end up moving down here. While a guy wouldn’t be enough reason for me to uproot my life and make my poor dog go through quarantine, I am keeping an open mind. I figured if two out of the three following things happened, I’d be willing to consider it:

1.) I found a place I love (at the city/town level, not dwelling level).

2.) I found a job I love.

3.) I found a man I love.

Now, I can’t say I love my job. It’s not bad, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t love it. I do like Christchurch, but again, I don’t love it. And, well, haven’t managed to find a guy I’ve been more than interested in, which is a far cry from love.

But the job offer did make the whole thing seem possible. And that’s what freaked me out. Because I could easily make a life for myself here, even though I don’t feel moved to at this point.

And it makes me think that maybe Houston isn’t where I want to be for the long term. I’m not saying New Zealand is, either, but maybe somewhere else. Like another green isle…

I could do it. Not right away, but I could do it. I could get my stuff all sorted out at the house, get serious about my freelance writing so I wouldn’t have to worry so much about having a job from the get go, build up my savings again after depleting them with this trip, get my dog set up with the Pet Passport program so he wouldn’t have to go through quarantine, and maybe I could be living in my beloved Ireland within a few years.

As long as I found a house with decent insulation, central heating, and broadband access. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that I’m not willing to go without all three for any decent length of time.

Life is full of possibilities, isn’t it?

Okay, so I will speak a bit more about the "date," since I probably gave the wrong impression before.

No, I didn't go anywhere with the stupid man after he showed up so late. I did, however, invite him in for a bit, just in case he actually had a good reason to have not been here when he said he would be. See, we hadn't exchanged phone numbers, so he wouldn't have been able to get in touch with me if something had come up to cause him to be late. And he was picking me up from where I'm staying, so I really wasn't inclined to just not answer the door - though it did cross my mind.

No, he didn't have a good reason. He was "hanging around with his mates." He left after about ten minutes, tops, and there was no discussion of getting together again.

Alas, I hadn't gotten a good look at him when we first met, otherwise there wouldn't have been a second meeting. And I assumed that he had a job, because he was looking at a house that's for sale when I met him on the way home from the bus stop. No, he has no job - he does some work bricklaying to pay the bills, but nothing steady. And he's never even been on an airplane.

I'm not saying any of this makes him a bad person, but it sure as hell means he's not a match for me.

Anyway, after he left, my landlady gave me a stern talking-to about not letting strangers into her house. Which I can understand, since she did live here alone before I moved in, but I thought she was over-reacting. Plus, I don't particularly want to stay somewhere where I feel like I can't invite someone over. Especially since while this guy didn't work out, I do harbor hope that I'll find another man I do end up liking enough to want him to come inside the house with me. Though we both might freeze to death, since this place has no insulation or central heating, but that's a different complaint altogether.

(Okay, I would hope that if I did bring a man home, freezing to death wouldn't be an option, but I did feel the need to make the snide, bitchy complaint. I'm that way.)

So that's the not-so-brief story of my date-that-wasn't. Now we will speak of it no more, again.

Well, the date didn't go well. He showed up well over an hour late, and it went downhill from there. Now, let us speak no more of it.

I feel like this whole experience has given me a ton of food for thought already, and I can't even process all of it. I have some pretty strong ideas, though they are still pretty disjointed at the moment.

• I've actually created something of a life for myself here already. It's not perfect, and there are things I'll probably change in the not-too-distant future (don't think I'll be staying where I am right now, for example), but I have a job, I've made friends, I have a whole lot more of a social life than I tend to back home (even if it has involved the consumption of far more alcohol than I'm quite comfortable with), and I'm actually noticing positive attention from men that's come my way.
• I'm actively making myself get out of my comfort zone. It may not be an unqualified success (see previous comments regarding higher alcohol consumption and last night's poor dating experience), but I know I'm learning from it. I've let myself believe some things about myself over the years that I'm realizing just aren't true. It'll take some time to break old habits, but I think as I stretch myself more, it'll get easier, and I'll end up happier, because I'll be true to myself, rather than trying to be true to what others may or may not think of me.
• Things can go in a way I didn't want, and it's not the end of the world. I can pick myself up and bounce back. I can have faith in myself and my instincts. And sometimes, I'll be wrong, but being wrong isn't a major catastrophe.
• I can make new friends, and pretty easily, even. I just have to be willing to put myself out there, and not get all freaked out if someone doesn't immediately care for me.

There's probably some more rattling around in my head, but I think I've got enough there to mull over for a while.

Anyway, I won't be back for a bit, most likely. Tomorrow is another going out night, then it's a long weekend in which I will attempt to do at least a bit of touristy things for as little money as possible. On the plus side, I should finally get a paycheck next week. I'm so excited to have money come in instead of just go out that I can hardly stand it.

Enjoy, everybody!

While I know I don't post all that often anyway, I do apologize for the lack of my dubious presence of late. I'm still in Christchurch (I hope I mentioned that before) and the job seems to be going pretty well. I've even moved out of the hostel - woo hoo!

Sadly, I haven't been able to get online where I'm living. My landlady is supposed to check with tech support - I think I just need a user name and password to get to her broadband connection - but I don't think she's had a chance to do it yet. And since she's a nurse, I can hardly consider my internet needs a priority for her during the day.

I did discover yesterday that the library has free wi-fi, bless them, so I brought my laptop with me today. It's a temporary fix, but it'll do for now.

So basically, all is relatively well, I'm still alive, and I even have a date for tomorrow night. Well, if I don't get stood up, I have a date. When I can get online again I'll let you know and give the details behind my uncharacteristic acceptance of a date with someone I know almost nothing about.

Hope everyone in the States had a safe holiday weekend. I get a long weekend this coming weekend for the Queen's birthday. Most exciting, I think I actually get paid for it anyway.