Hi
Friend!
Started
the week off with my Co-Worker (for the first time) showing off his school
pride for USC... and me grrrring.
We
also celebrated Lucas turning 21 by going to a vegan restaurant where he strong
encouraged me to try the fake cheese burger and then conveniently didn't notice
that I only took one bite of it.
Then
we headed to the pin-ball museum where he's a regular but it was my first
time. This is also where I fell in love
with the Cue Ball Wizard and it's catch phrase, "Chalk up partner!!"
Zach:
My friends say it's lame when I zip up my coat.
Followed
by everyone zipping up their coats: "Whoa whoa look how lame I'm
being!"
And
then I tried bubble tea for the first time! Didn't care for it! And also felt
hella old at 2 am up with how hip and cool all the youngins were hanging out at
the bubble tea place. It was crazy
crowded and we were the oldest people there by a lot. And that's why a straight edge celebrates his
21st birthday!
Photographic
proof:
T
O'B
Update 1/9 - 1/15
Hi Friend,
This was a low key week. I remember my co-worker James saying,
"Indiana jones and the crystal monkey and it's not so bad. It just needed some time and alcohol." I also must have watched Casper and Nala
because I thought Casper was so cute I took a picture of him.. and other than
that...
I FLEW TO NEW ZEALAND! But I'm going lump
that whole trip into a longer update... k?
T O'B
Update 1/16 - 1/29
Hi Friend!
Dawne, Jordan, Kelly, Tom and I all went to
New Zealand. Tom is from NZ, and his
grandmother had just died, so he'd be there just in time for the funeral. I mention this because as we were sitting at
the airport in LA I realized that we were landing at 12 noon not 12 midnight
and I had to contact the hotel I had booked to cancel last minute while working
in "grandmother's funeral" without lying. As soon as we landed D&J and I got the
car and headed to Tom's home town, Whangamata which I soon found out is
pronounced FANGamata.
Speaking of pronunciations, I went over to
Tom's parent's house that first night (I had already met his sister and
parents, but Jenny's husband and kids were brand new!) Apparently, their dad is one of those people
who just knows and incredible amount of information and is never wrong. Not in a "can't admit that he's
wrong" like some people in my family, but genuinely doesn't say something
unless he knows it to be true. I was
telling them that I had a mini-education on the whole Wh = F thing.
Tom's dad: Yeah but there are some things
that there really is only way you could even want to pronounce it like Waitomo.
(WHY-TAMO)
Me (without hesitation): Really? I've been
saying "WAIT-TOW-MO"
Apparently, this was monumental because not
only was he speechless, but no one has ever proved him wrong - and I wasn't
even trying! I just talk funny.
That same night, I saw a little girl earn 2
dollars to eat a slice of cucumber. I
still wouldn't have done it.
The following day, D&J and I drove to
Hobbiton which was way more fun than even I was expecting. Super fun pics, and the tour was lovely. I will say the gift shop left something to be
desired. It's weird walking out of a
store thinking, "ugh, they should hire me."
Dawne introduced me to the term "Dip em
and ship em." When she was younger she used to take people scuba diving
during the summer and when cruises come into port and you take them into the
water for a tour, that's called "Dip 'em and Ship 'em" in the biz and
I think that's hilarious.
We kept asking Jordan to stop so we could
take pictures of cows and sheep (but mostly cows b/c the sheep kept running
away.)
We also drove to Waitomo to see the cool glow
worms. We didn't do the crazy intense
tour that D&J went on the last time they were there that included close
encounters with eels, icy waters, and other "fun" but terrifying
adventures. I opted for the fun for
young and old tour, which was just perfect for me. And then we drove back.
On the subject of roads, I offer this
commentary:
Jordan on those curve signs. "They
should have a Squiggle line for the whole fucking island."
Jordan: Straight as a kiwi road.
Dawne: I put the window down so I can jump
out if we go over the cliff.
Tom's nieces we super cute, and incredibly
fascinated by Kelly. In fact one of them
gave Kelly a piece of her hair to remember her by.
The next day we we're going to go boating but
delayed it by a day to go for another little road trip up the coast. It was a little scary in that the roads were
terrifying. We stopped for lunch and a
little walk. Then Dawne and Jordan
separated from us so that they could go on a train tour. The rest of us went for a swim. Technically,
I swam for 20 min in the pacific near the Antarctic Ocean but when asked I'm
definitely saying that it was 2 hours in the Antarctic Ocean.
Tom: This beach used to not be so crowded,
I'm sorry.
Me: There are only two other people here.
Apology accepted.
We followed that frigid experience up with
some ice cream, naturally. Kelly and Tom
had a disagreement about what was younger, geologically, Iceland or New
Zealand, which I'm pretty sure Kelly won, but I'm not telling Tom. We headed back to Tom's parent's house to
help with dinner. Meanwhile, Dawne and
Jordan took this crazy back road and ended up cuddling with a baby pig and
hanging out with other pet pigs. Then
they stopped at the hot springs before dinner.
We also talked about interracial marriages
(specifically marrying a mermaid) as the only reason why one might want to
invite 250 guests to an underwater even that would require waterproof suits.
Dinner was amazing - Tom's dad cooked us a
recently hunted wild lamb, and it was super yum.
Jenny: Did you just release a sigh of relieve
bc my children were sleeping?
Tom: Don't tell me you don't every night.
Jenny: It's always internal!
The following day we went out on Tom's dad's
boat - it was like a really big fishing boat, and their house was like half a
block from the Marina. I thought this was very advantageous, but apparently,
Tom's dad was on the board who decided where the Marina was going to be build.
Tom's Dad: Being without a boat is traumatic.
We (they) went fishing and caught snappers,
tuna, and guartner (?) and totally cooked and ate them right away. Before we knew it, it was our last day, and I
was on a mission to take a picture with a Kiki (person), Kiwi (fruit) and a
Kiki (bird.) We went to the zoo carrying
fruit and got it done, even if it was pretty dark. On our way to the airport, I got a friend
request from Tom's sister Jenny, to be completely embarrassed because I had
been pronouncing it Jennie with a Y!
Sadly, our flight was delayed quite a bit in
Auckland so we didn't get into Tahiti until way late. And even more unfortunate, it poured the
entire time we were there. It was a total
aberration in weather and we were there to experience it! Even the other tourists who spend every
January there were like, "You are very unlucky." And I was all,
"Dude, I'm trying get my water aerobics on here!" To be fair, Dawne, Jordan and I tried to be
extremely positive and didn't once complain about the situation. We rented a car and explored every little
nook and cranny of this island to the point that "Ooh yay! That looks like
a legit road!" became a mantra.
Weirdly, everything was always closed between 4:30 and 7, but we did go
into a book store that had all three of "Cathy's Book" on display
like it wasn't a ten year old book series.
Despite Dawne being allergic to cats, she totally adopted a kitty who
she fed and provided for on her balcony.
And apparently, D&J had the added company of cockroaches in their
room. I didn't have that same company,
so I was actually able to get some extra sleep in - which is unheard of on
vacations. We checked out all of the
other hotels too, so we know that Kelly and Tom's hotel was lovely, and I can
imagine what it looked like a week later when it was bathed in sunshine. I did attempt to put my feet on the sand for
ten seconds, but didn't do more than that because even if I hadn't had a
stranger say to me, "You're not going in are you? Very dangerous." I
could see for myself the tides breaking against the cliffs with a
vengeance.
Either way, I can check that box off, Tahiti,
done. :)
And here are copious amounts of pictures too!
T O'B
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