4th of July in November?

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! It is the New Zealand version of the 4th of July. Everyone shoots fireworks in their street and the city of Wellington has a huge firework show over the water. I guess it's pretty cool but I still have to work at Raumati tonight and I won't end up even close to Wellington by 8pm.

I had a pretty interesting weekend. I was feeling really homesick this weekend, mainly because my whole family has gathered in Orange County to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. I webcamed with my mom for the first time on Friday night and then on Saturday I got to webcam with the whole family all at once. My little cousins are getting really big and it was cute for them to wave and say "Hi Casey!" I pretty much cried through the whole 30 minutes of web chatting because I didn't realize how much I do miss my family. Being so far away from home it doesn't do any good to think about how much you miss them so you stick the homesickness to the back of your brain. It was a real blessing to be able to see them and I hope with the holiday season around the corner I'll get to do it again.

I found out one of my closest friends from back home is going to be in Auckland at the end of November/early December and I couldn't be more ecstatic. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the friends I've made here. We laugh together and hang out, but it's different. We don't have a history, they don't really know the REAL me. So a few days with Erin will be really reassuring and comforting.

The next two weeks will be crazy. We have a school coming in for two weeks so I'll be working pretty much 9-3 in the water, straight through, with no breaks. I actually like working that way...makes the day go by faster, even if I do crash out asleep at 8pm.

Time to go play with some fire!