Zoya: Aurora and a Circus!

I have had an insanely busy week.

There's only one week left of term, before the holidays, and we just put on a circus!
This terms homework challenge for our 7 and 8 year olds was to prepare a circus act to preform at the M Block Circus. Yes we are slightly insane...last year we did a magic show and a raft race. This year we'll be doing a trolley derby in the summer, as well as our circus.

After weeks of practice (I swear I feel like I organised more circus acts that were organised at home), everything finally came together. We decorated the hall...

That took us 4 hours after school on Wednesday. It was totally worth it, and it's staying up until it falls down to be honest.

Thursday we had a dress rehearsal in front of the whole school and Thursday night was our official performance. The hall was packed, people had to stand outside at the doors. It was amazing. We asked for gold coin donations and we made $230 for the block! There are 4 classes in our block and approximately 100 children.

I now have high hopes there are no crazy videos of me on youtube!

Anyway...back on to nail polish...

Zoya Aurora is insanely pretty. Yes I had to have the polish mostly for the sleeping beauty reference...but also because of the amazing holo sparkles.

Zoya Aurora

Now I need Blaze!

My Week

I've been feeling super sorry for myself this week.

It was my first week back at work after the summer holidays. Surprisingly that's not what made me mopey!
In fact my class have been absolutely amazing. They're following instructions, listening to each other, sharing, being super polite, trying to do their best work... They're so fantastic they won the best class award for sitting in assembly.

Two different views of my classroom

Yes I'm a very proud teacher.

Anyway, I'm super mopey because on Monday night we had torrential rain, which caused a lot of surface flooding. Unfortunately I had to go out to pick Nick up from work. As I was diving down SH2, I was doing about 80k, in the 100k zone (the weather was terrible and you couldn't safely drive faster), I noticed everyone changing lanes. So I carefully changed lanes. The road was completely flooded. Everyone was slowing to go through. I let the person in front of me go through and started to go through myself. I could see there was a car coming behind me, I kind of assumed they'd stop... But they didn't. They crashed straight into the back of my poor car. So we were shunted forward. Luckily the car in front had gone far enough that I didn't hit them.

Turns out the driver of the other car was from overseas, in a rental car and in the country for about a week. At least they did stop and pull over to the side of the road behind me when we'd passed the flooding.

Anyway I made my first emergency call, did my first police report, sat in a police car for the first time... oh and had my first accident.

The other driver was at fault and the policeman gave them a ticket for not driving to the conditions. They said they were doing 95k before their brakes failed (due to the flooding and not pumping them to clear the water) and they crashed into us.

It doesn't look too bad... but the boot can't close

Luckily for me mum was in the car with me, otherwise I totally would have been freaking, and we weren't hurt. Just some whiplash and a sprained finger.

I feel sorry for the people the crashed into me. It was their first day in New Zealand and unless they took out insurance with the rental car company...they will have a nasty bill, paying for my car and any damage they did to the rental (I didn't really look... I was more concerned with my car).

When you look inside you can see where the car absorbed the impact.  It's supposed to be straight... not smooshed. 

I feel sorrier for me though. It's not very fair. I did everything right...and now my car has been written off and I have to buy a new one. Of course I can't buy a new car with the insurance payout. As my car was a 1995 Nissan Lucino the value had depreciated rather a bit over the last few years. Luckily my insurance are going to assess the market value for me... but it's a rather drawn out process and I still wouldn't be able to afford even the same car again. I saw a 1994 Lucino for 5k... but I won't even get that. argh! not fair.

The panel-beater said it's between 3-4k worth of damage.

I'm very thankful that no one was hurt... but I want my car!!!

Even though we're still waiting on insurance , we've been spending every spare moment looking at cars. I'm not very keen to test drive them. I'm still feeling rather nervous about driving.

Anyway on to other cuter and more exciting things...

Aristotle learned a new trick

Aristotle is adjusting to being at home alone during the day. He's very needy when I get home though! He's worked out how to jump on to the kitchen bench, via the oven. He needed to get on to the bench for hugs, because I was doing the dishes, instead of playing with him.

I wore the same nail polish for 5 days this week. I applied it Sunday night... and it lasted though til Friday night, when I just needed to change it.

The magical polish that last all week was OPI The Impossible. I'm loving the liquid sands...if not for their funky texture and pretty glitter, but for their incredible staying power on me.

Swatch: OPI The Impossible

swatch: OPI The Impossible with top coat

 I didn't take any photos before I added top coat on the third  day to my actual mani, so I've used swatch pictures to show how gorgeous this polish looks with and with out top coat. I didn't fish out stars... in fact I put the stars that came out back.

Actual wear after 5 days! I added top coat on day three for a slightly different look.

So I guess in all my week hasn't been that bad!

Good things this week:
1. Nail polish lasted 5 days and looked awesome.
2. My class are amazingly fantastic.
3. Aristotle is a cutie
4. I continued to loose weight, despite my period.

Bad things:
1. My car got written off.
2. Cramps.

So more good than bad!

Wairarapa Adventure (Picture spam)

For christmas we were lucky enough to receive a nights accommodation in the Wairarapa, and it included a full cooked breakfast....yum!

I was so nervous driving over....but I survived and now I could totally drive anywhere. I'm thinking Ohakune in the next school holidays...

We went to the hotel, checked in and went exploring.

Queen Elizabeth Park

The bridge to the miniature railway

Me by the duck pond

We decided to eat dinner at a family restaurant over the road from the hotel.

We had a word search competition wit the kiddie placemats...

Then we walked back to the hotel for dessert.

zomg... chocolate overload....

The next day was gorgeously sunny and we popped down the main center to get some packed lunches and set of to explore. Our first stop was 'Stonehenge'. Yes they really did just build a replica of the real Stonehenge in the middle of the Wairarapa. it is however set to align with the southern hemisphere stars etc.

Stonehenge Wairarapa

The star sign obelisque thing... I was listening honest...

Then we got in the car and set the GPS...omg the GPS was a lifesaver I would never have found the right roads otherwise. they're all little country roads. Anyway we drove out to Palliser Bay, well almost all the way, we stopped at the Putangirua river bed. trekked up that for an hour and a half and saw this amazing scenery...

Putangirua Pinnacles

Putangirua Pinnacles

This was one of the filming locations for Lord of the Rings.

Me at the Putangirua Pinnacles

Looking out to the ocean on the way back to the car

After that exhausting walk we drove back to Greytown to buy fruit and ice creams. Best frozen yogurt ever. they put real fruit in and mixed it in front of you. Yum yum.

Blueberry and Strawberry frozen yogurt

And that is why i put back on all the weight I'd lost! So ahhh....lets see how this week goes!

Revenge of the Scales

'Revenge of the Scales' sounds rather ominous but I did get a  rather nasty shock when I recently bought some new scales..

The other week, after New Years, when I was looking back at last years resolutions, I came to the conclusion I weighed the most I had ever, ever, ever weighed. I added 3 evers as I'm really quite shocked at myself. At the start of last year I was 67kg (148lbs). I made a resolution to eat healthy and exercise properly and was quite keen on getting back down to 60kg (132lbs). especially seeing as I was getting married in July.

ha ha ha. Yeah that didn't work out so well for me. I was stressed with work, eating emotionally, ordering take aways because I was too tired to cook and didn't think I had enough time to exercise. by July I was 68kg and my dress that fit perfectly at 67kg just fit.

Playing in the water in Rarotonga

The all important wedding dress

After the wedding I kind of avoided the scales, got even more stressed with work and felt rather unhappy with myself to be honest. I bought some fancy new scales in the New Year sales, set it up with my personal data and jumped on... 76kg (167lbs).

Christmas 2011

I moped for a few days and accused Nick of letting me get 'fat'.

Then I hardened up. I remember the year I'd had in 2011 and the bad habits I'd formed. Sure, I had a bad year and I put on weight but it's a new year this year and I'm going to change my habits. I might not have control over some of the things that added stress to my life last year, but I have control over my habits.

So this years resolution was simple: Form good habits.
Eating, exercising, prioritising, productivity...

So far I've been sticking to my new 'cook everything myself and eat healthy' food regime. I've had a few sugar withdrawal headaches, but i'm eating so many yummy berries that it is totally worth it. I've been trying to walk rather than use the car, which works if I'm just popping down to the post office or the supermarket but not to get to work. I've been drinking a 2L jug of water each day, trying to keep on top of the house work and trying to make sure I exercise each day.
I'll be setting up my classroom and getting organised for school to start back up next week. I was going to go in today, but it was rainy and I didn't want to lug things back and forward from my car to classroom in the rain.

As of today I'm back at 73kg (161lbs).

I've told myself that for every kg I lose I'm allowed to buy one bottle of nail polish. Until then no polish purchases...Yes, I am bribing myself with extrinsic rewards.

***Please note that I don't think that 73kg (161lbs) is fat, I just know my body and that it's not the right weight for me. I will never ever be super model skinny and I don't ever want to be. I'm 166cm and I love my curves, but they were starting to go the wrong way!***

To Google or Not to Google? And Some Del Sol Colour Changing Goodness!

Well I had a doctors appointment yesterday.

After 3 days of random short, sharp head pains happening every 5 to 30minutes I thought it was best to visit the pharmacy and ask if I should take anything for it. The pharmacist said I should probably see the doctor.

So I started recording the pains and made a doctors appointment. I had 108 pains on Thursday, all just short sharp pains above my left eye. I only had 6 pains on  Friday though... So it seems to be stopping? After a neurological examination (that was weird...testing all my reflexes) the doctor seems to think I have Trigeminal Neuralgia.

So what do you do when the doctor tells you, you might have something with a long scary sounding name? Do you Google it and get freaked out...or just freak out?

I'm not actually freaked out, I mean the pains haven't stopped me. It's just been a short sharp unpredictable pain. Last a couple of seconds and then it's gone. I'm just reluctant to take the drugs the doctor prescribed me. I mean it seems to be stopping... Yeah I'm not a fan of drugs.

Anyway here's a pic of a pretty polish.

Del Sol Ruby Slipper in the shade

Del Sol Ruby Slipper in the sun

Colour change polishes are so fun and this one by Del Sol is my favourite. I'm not really a fan of Trick or Treat their Halloween polish, but I love Ruby Slipper. I used 4 coats, thin ones. The shimmery silver glitter is so pretty in the shade, then its all like wham, pow, red, in the sun. Very fun.

Oh and for anyone wondering what Trigeminal Neuralgia is, it is a condition where a nerve in your face has issues and decide to cause pains. It has three branches, jaw, check and eye. One or more can play up and cause sharp pains. The doctor only thinks I have it as I'm not showing any other symptoms that would be related to cluster headaches. I'm on some low dosage anti convulsant drugs for a few weeks until I have another appointment to reevaluate. Either way the pain seems to be stopping. I've had a few dull aches today but no strong ones.

I just hate long scary words and the urge to google them!

I Climbed a Mountain...

This week is 'Outdoor Week' at school. We basically get to deviate from our normal programme and do some outdoorsy type activities. This year the juniour class theme is animals including human animals.

So far we have had an animal show, made scroggin and climbed Cannon Point.

We climbed Cannon Point, the hill behind the school, today. It took us three hours up and down. Pretty good for 5 and 6 year olds. I'm tired and achey and am starting to think I really should run round the field with the kids in the mornings...I'm so unfit.

The 'mountain' we climbed

The view from the top. You can see right out to Wellington Harbour.

But you can't see my house.

Pretty as a postcard on the way back down.

It's a good thing it was overcast...long walks uphill are not fun in hot sunshine!

Tomorrow we're having a treasure hunt and making kites. Thursday we are going to zoo...I can't wait. I love the zoo. Friday...we are recovering!

I had set up posts for this week, so that I didn't have to worry about posting when I was busy with outdoor week and report writing. I forgot to schedule them though...I left them as drafts. Opps!

Some Glitter Gal Holo

Well I'll start of with the Glitter Gal holo! Everyone loves a good holo... well I most certainly do! The prices I've paid for some holos would make you curse. I paid $40 (New Zealand) including shipping for OPI DS Glamour... was it worth it... Oh yeah! Glamour is so pretty.

Luckily there are some holo's that don't cost $40. Glitter Gal are now more readily available in the US thanks to llarowe and in New Zealand. Check out polishqueennz on Trade Me.

This Glitter Gal in particular puts me in a Christmasy mood... lets count this as my first Christmas post of the season!

Glitter Gal Not Another Red

Well they got that right...it's not another red alright! This is one red I love. More coral tinged and very flattering. Drool! Holo gooodness. I applied 3 coats...I'm a three coater habitually.
In other news...I can't wait to see the new names the Glitter Gals get.

Rugged Wellington Coast and Gardening!

Last Friday Nick and I took mum out to a job interview at the airport in Wellington. They interviewer had flown in for the day and was doing all her interviews at the airport. We dropped mum off and had a look around the shops...then we got bored and went for a drive. We drove out towards Moa Point and stopped when we found a nice carpark so we could walk around.

Looking towards the other side of the bay...Wellington is all about bays on this side of the coast.

I can see the airport runway...

Wild flowers.

A rock with a hole! Awesomeness it was person sized and the walking track went straight through.

It's always fun to visit somewhere you wouldn't always go. I normally drive to the airport and then drive home, I've never explored the area. So it was fun to check out this little part of the coast. We didn't get to explore too much as mum rang asking to be picked up...finally! In good news...she did get the job :)

And here is a picture that shows everyone the weather I've been fighting all holidays as I've tried to swatch my untrieds.

Looking at the border of our section. All the trees are ours except the twiggy bare one. The wood pigeons have destroyed that tree.

Oh look it's blue sky...I can swatch holo's! Then 30sec later it's dark grey with no hope of sunlight... then it rains... then the sun pops back out and the cycle starts all over again.

And back to grey...but look is that blue...?

At least it was sunny yesterday. Mum and Dad came round to help us sort out the section...We've been trying to all holidays but the intermittent rain has prevented us. We also swapped beds, gave mum and dad our spare queen and they gave us a single. So my polish room/library is almost completed. We're going to stick a large mirror up today. It'll be awesome.

Which is grass which is garden? Ahhhh the weeds lol.

As you can see we have no problem growing things...I'm rather good at growing weeds...
\But look I can grow vegetables as well! Check out my lettuces and strawberries.

And finally some nails! These are my manual labour nails I wore yesterday...and my first attempt at dotting lol.

Manual labour nails: OPI Steady as She Rose, CG Snow and Happy Go Lucky.

The dotting tools I used are the same kind as in my 365 Giveaway