Talk about EYE CANDY!

What do you call 20 men, with their shirts off, swimming in the pool? THE BEST EYE CANDY....EVER!! The Men's US Rugby team stopped by the pool yesterday to get in a work out. I, of course, went of to wish them luck in the international tournament this weekend and to drool!

I also made a rescue today (which I shouldn't have needed to do but the lifeguard on duty was too busy fixing her hair). I was teaching and I hear this mom from the side of the pool "My SON! MY SON!" and I look to my left and there was a kid clinging to the middle lane rope, under water. I reached over the rope and grabbed the boy by his trunks and handed him back to his mom. The lifeguard had NO idea what happened. But just call me Casey Hasselhoff!

By the way, I've been trying to upload a ton of pictures from the last couple of weeks (jumping off the wharf, Saturday going out, the city, and the waterfront) but for some reason the website is taking forever to upload the shots and never actually puts them up. I'll keep trying but in the mean time, stay classy America.

Walking in a cyclone is REALLY good exercise!

Yes, that's right! We are currently in the middle of a cyclone! (Tropical Cyclone Funa) I walked home in 100+mph gust of winds. I have NEVER been held upright by wind before. I didn't have to walk home in the cyclone but I left my change for the bus at home this morning because it was about 80 degrees and bright blue sky! I never expected a CYCLONE! Last night was ridiculously muggy. I'm talking humidity I have never experienced before. The humidity plus the wind equals the worst "I feel gross" feeling because we can't leave the windows open, mainly because the wind would blow the windows off its hinges!
I started teaching this morning and I couldn't have asked for a better group of kids this week. No freak-outs and all the kids seemed willing to participate, which is quite the accomplishment considering they are 3! The games were run smoothly considering we had another big group to occupy.

But I'm going to go hunker down now....try not to blow away!

P.S. *Dances around the room* I just booked the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. On April 23, Dad and I will be watching the sunset over Sydney!! How cool is that!

UPDATE: Cathy just went outside to get her laundry and, well, her laundry was there....along with someone elses. Funny thing is we are the only two story building in a 100 yard radius. Hahah! FREE CLOTHES!

*sings* It's a beautiful day. Not a cloud in sight...

....so I guess I'm doing alright!

Today was an amazing day! When people say "Nothing beats a great day in Wellington" they MEAN IT! I shot out of bed at 8am and looked outside....bright blue sky, no wind, and no clouds! I immediately texted Seka and we were off on our beach day, my first being in New Zealand. We went to Oriental Bay, just on the outside of the city and you can see the skyline from the beach. It was really crowded but the beach was a definitely place to be today. Seka and I even went in the water (no sharks here!).
We stayed at the beach till around 4pm and then we made the slow walk along the Waterfront wharf back to Seka's place in the city. Along the way we saw a group of guys jumping off the wharf and I stated "OOOH! Cool! I wanna do that!" and Seka looks at me and goes "Why don't you?" So I stripped down to my suit and took a flying leap off the wharf. It was so awesome!
(This is what I love about this city! They promote doing fun stuff like this. Can you imagine people jumping off Huntington Beach pier? You'd get arrest! Here they have barges and ladders to help jumpers out of the water.)

I'm so excited to be here during summer. The citizens of Wellington actually celebrate the nice weather outside. They bike, skate, Rollerblade up and down the water front for hours. I really wish Orange County can be more like this.

Not sure what I'm up too tomorrow. But hopefully it will be FUN!

Pictures!

The other night Seka invited me along with her flatmates to go to a concert in the Botanical Garden. It was amazing! The weather was freakishly warm that day and into the night. The band was okay. They played a few mellow songs but then got into the more upbeat stuff and got the crowd moving. The Gardens are beautiful this time of year, decorated with different lights and even bubbles. Wellington definitely knows how to celebrate its summer months! I'm really enjoying "FREE" things and even when I have some extra cash to spend I think I'll still enjoy going to the cash-free events. I'm off work until Tuesday because Monday is Wellington Anniversary. Can you imagine Santa Ana having a day off work to celebrate its establishment? Just another reason why I love this country. So, tomorrow there is a break dancing competition in the City Centre and then there is an Ultimate Frisbee show down at the beach. Good times! Seka and I enjoying the warm summer day!
Packed in like sardines! You should have seen the place once the concert started.
Cathy, my new flatmate, with the biggest crayfish I've ever seen. (Greg, the other flatmate, brings these guys home on a regular bases!)
The Professional Volleyball Tournament from last weekend.
This is not an unusual sight after a Friday night in Wellington. (A grocery cart on a street sign...)

Glorifed Babysitting!

I am seriously exhausted!! Today was raining so the pool had about 200 kids running around. The lifeguards set up an inflatable obstacle course and a 20 foot slide....so the kids were going bonkers. I, on the other hand, had to contain the craziness into games for the kids to enjoy. (Bucket Fishing and Treasure Dive) The hard part was I had to do this on my own and the worst part about it was the fact that parents treat my service as a daycare ("Okay kids, mommy is going shopping and I'm going to leave you here at the pool for 6 hours..."). So we end up with groups of tween-agers (ages 10-13) that are rude, crude, and everything in between. The little kids are polite and sweet with "please" and "thank you".

So I'm going to take a nap now. ZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZ.

The weekend of Free!

Due to my financially issue, "You've got to earn money to spend money" and the fact I haven't worked since December 15th, I decided this was the weekend of FREEdom! I spent the weekdays pretty much just hanging out the flat and reading, watching tv, playing on the computer (I'm becoming a Hearts master!), and walking to Nicky's to hang out.
Friday night I went to a BBQ of a friend of Nicky's were we ate veggie kebabs, corn patties, and sausages. I then was going to call it a night and on my way home I realized there was a lifeguard party around the corner from my house so I headed off to that to say so long to Karl, one of the lifeguards at WRAC.
Saturday, Nicky and I walked along the waterfront into the city where there was an International professional volleyball tournament. The weather really got nice as we sat there and watched the USA men's team kick some NZ butt! We caught a few games and then walked around the city. Saturday night we decided to have a girls dance party in town. We headed off to Electric Avenue (where they were playing Magnum PI on the big screen....and I knew what episode it was too. Shout out to Dad!) and then went to another place called "The Establishment". It was a great night of silly dancing.

I do have a few pictures from this weekend but for some reason the blog website isn't uploading them all the way so I will get those up in the next couple of days!

I start work tomorrow (YAY!!). My schedule is teaching from 9-12 and organizing games and face painting for the kids that are still on holiday from 1230-4.

EVERYONE LISTEN UP!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUFFI!!!

I'm sorry I didn't shout out to her in my blog yesterday but I want to wish her a very, merry 29th Birthday! I miss you and love you very much! Save some cake for me!! :)

Can't beat a Sunny Day in Wellington...

I apologize profusely for my lack of writing and updating, but honestly, I have nothing much to write about. 

The past week I've spent time bonding with my new flatmates and having dinners together. I felt bad the first week that I was there because I was never home. Cathy and Greg took me in and I thanked them by running in, changing clothes, and running back out the door. So this week I emailed my mom for a old family recipe for California Casserole. Yes, that's right. I'm becoming domesticated in my cooking abilities and I didn't poison everyone!! We polished off an entire casserole in one evening, so I ended up making a second one for leftovers.

Today, Jo and I met up at the pool to swim and then we met up for lunch with Nicky and her flatmate, Polly. It ended up being such an amazing day. It was 75 degrees, cloudless sky, and a lite off shore breeze. We ended up walking around Downtown Wellington, along the water front and eating ice cream. It's hard to admit that a city can be so stunning, but Wellington is an amazing city, especially on a day like today. 

I'm really looking forward to working again, especially since it's only a 15min walk to the pool from my front door and the sooner I start working the sooner my dad will be here and the sooner we will be on our crazy Pacific Ocean adventure and the sooner I'll be home!!

Is that interesting enough for ya?