Wow… I popped round for a drink (or two) after work to a friend’s place today, coz I just found out she has a place in the city – right next to work.

We know each other through a mutual friend and meet up every now and then at parties. It’s always fabulous to see her. Thanks to Facebook the last time we ran into each other we managed to get in touch with each other and have been Facebook chatting quite a bit and today she invited me round to her place for a farewell drink before I leave for the States for my big holiday.

When she told me her address I nearly fell off my chair coz the address she gave me was next to my work. I thought I had got it wrong coz I always imagined her living in a wonderful cottage near a beach. But NO she lives on the top floor of a very tall apartment building in the city, not only that but she lives in the penthouse which has this amazing wrap around deck with an almost 360 degree view AND a spa pool. We were so high up I felt like I could just about shake hands with people having dinner in the Sky Tower.

Add to this that tomorrow is my last day of work before my holiday starts and I’m feeling pretty amazing right now… just TWO more sleeps!!!

Oh by the way I have updated the houses project with Sept 69 to Dec 69.

Off to Wellington for 2 days which is quite exciting but as the airplane taxied past the international terminal and I saw an Air New Zealand Jumbo Jet just like the one I’m going on next week, I got so excited I couldn’t stop smiling – what an awesome feeling.

At last the wait is down to single digits, yes it’s only 9 more sleeps and one of those sleeps is in a hotel in Wellington.

Normally when I fly to Wellington I sit on the left side coz the view is of the land as we head south. But the last time I did that the sun was so strong & hot I had to pull down the shade, so this time I thought I would try the other side of the plane and WOW it was awesome. The view was way more interesting as you can see from the photos, plus as we were landing I could see the south island and snow capped mountains which would have made a great photo but by that point we had to have all electronic devices turned off so I couldn’t take a picture. So from now on I’m always going to sit on that side of the plane.

This week I’m in Gisborne and this is the view from the hotel deck this morning. The cool thing about this is that apparently Gisborne is one of the first places in the world to see the sun, so as this is the first view of the sun this morning I could very well be the first person in the world to see the sun. Well that is if you don’t count people who have to go to work before the sun is even up.

Yesterday I received very bad news from America – Celine Dion has strained a vocal chord and has been ordered to have complete voice rest AGAIN, which means cancelled concerts. I am so angry and sad about this terrible news, I have been looking forward to going to the concert for so many years and finally I get to go and it’s only 14 more sleeps till I depart for America to see her.

Of course there will be plenty of other cool stuff to see and do and I’m still very excited about seeing my friends, Vegas, L.A. and San Francisco, but Celine was a pretty big highlight. My friend Amy has sent me some ideas for other concerts we could go to, but that doesn’t seem like a real good idea right now, as anything else will just be a huge disappointment, nothing could come close to a Celine concert in my world.

I got to have lunch with my sister and her kids today and coz they weren’t at my last family birthday lunch I got to have more presents today making this a really long birthday celebration – yay!!!

Now here’s a blast from the past. I went down to the Britomart Centre at lunch time yesterday to spend my $10 gift voucher the fabulous Kikki.K store sent me for my birthday and on my way back, I cut through Fort St and found the White Lady – wow, now that’s a blast from the past. I haven’t seen that thing for years, in fact I had completely forgotten all about it.

I wonder if the food is still as awesome as it used to be back in the 80s when I was a frequent customer there on Friday and Saturday nights.

Today at lunch time Senior Fluffy and I went walking and we came across a brand new shop called The London Lolly Shop. I rushed in hoping to find the Jelly Babies my very special friends bring me from London when they return home or post me for Xmas, but not expecting to find them. Not only did I find the exact brand I love so much but a humongous box of them – yippee.