Phew!

At last, a bit of a slower pace...
It snowed on me in my travels, in spite of it supposedly being the height of summer, and then this morning it hailed!
I had enough time yesterday to finish putting together a cool-as bead angel I was given quite some time ago...

Took my mother and our 96 year old ex-neighbour out to look at the lights last night. We started at the house where I grew up - never seen it looking like this before!!!

so good to be not doing much at all!

Finally

... Yep, finally, nearly 2 weeks after some of my friends, I have finished school. I was so determined to be out of there today that I was up until 2am working, and then, after not really being able to sleep, back at it again at 7.30 this morning. But, at last, at 4.45 this afternoon, I did the last task that HAD to be done before I could leave. There is, of course lots more that I didn't do, but it can and will have to wait. I need this break. This has been one of the hardest working years I have ever known. At the same time it has been challenging and stimulating, but I'm totalled now. Illustrated vividly by more tears at the end of last week.

What am I planning for the summer? Well, it seems to get shorter and shorter all the time - I have to be back for a 2 day intro for the last course in my diploma, which is sure something I could live without. And I have to be back at school a week before everyone else. But other than that, the bit I'm looking most forward to is a week at a beach. Not the same beach as last year, but just as nice by all accounts. I'm looking forward to the long long evenings strolling along and collecting shells and driftwood.

Boy's toys...

My brother cracks me up. He is the epitome of playing it close to the chest. He's off this weekend, to run the Kepler Challenge Mountain race for the 17th time. Last year was a really slow one (11-ish hours to do the 64km), so he joked at Christmas that this year he'd be going for the most improved time. So I wished him well in his endeavours. What do I get back but an email, not about the mountain race, but about the trip down the West Coast to get to the mountain race, and how he was going to have the most improved time for that. How come?
Well... I had to

look in the rear view mirror:

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no, closer... in the wing mirror:

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and then gaze out the front, at the beast disappearing into the distance:


So, apparently he won one of the limited edition Ford Falcon XR8's with personalised All Blacks number plates. Someone remind me again why I don't buy Lotto tickets??