upside down

Take a look into the New Zealand sky after dark, and you can't help but notice that it looks a bit different.  The constellations are upside down, Orion is pointing towards the ground, and you can even see some bright planets that I had never noticed before.  While last night's full moon was one of the brightest in 15 years in the northern hemisphere, it was one of the first times that I had seen/looked at the moon here.  And it looked funny...indeed, the man in the moon was upside down!  Maybe on our extended holiday we can grab a star guide and check out some of the constellations exclusive to the southern hemisphere!

holiday!

Most students are out of school for the summer now here in New Zealand, and from what I've heard, not only are the students on holiday, but most of the country is too.  Since this is their summer, and it falls over the Christmas and New Year's holiday, many kiwis take long vacations to other parts of NZ or over to Australia.  For example, after tomorrow, yoga class will be on holiday for a month, and I will be on break from nannying after Christmas through January 20th.  It's quite the extended holiday, and I am nervous that I won't know what to do with myself with such a large amount of time off.  But I think it will be a wonderful way to take in the NZ lifestyle of laid-back relaxation.  And we've got a wonderful mini-vacation of our own planned, so stay tuned!!!

what I'm readin' now...

 

I'm reading about Santa's escapades in the land down-down under, and am determined to do all of the amazing things that he does on his short holiday while I'm here for a while!

decoratin'

The family I nanny for is well aware of my need to make the season bright this Christmas.  I've been bugging them like crazy about when they were going to get their tree...the parents are somewhat indifferent on the whole decorating thing, but with baby's first Christmas right around the corner, I think I convinced them.

Today Evelyn and I spent the morning decorating their new live Christmas tree.  I felt the pressure of making it look acceptable.  With Evelyn bouncing away in her exer-saucer and Vince Guaraldi Trio (the Charlie Brown Christmas) music playing in the background (an early gift from Bret), we set off to work. 

BEFORE

I attempted to wrap 'pin' lights on the branches, which are much more fragile than the sturdy wire branches of my artificial tree, which proved more difficult than I would have guessed.  They hung haphazardly (beautifully, I reminded myself), and I filled in the blank spaces with silver garland.  There was only one box of ornaments to start, so I strung each one with ribbon and hung them gracefully on the leaning branches.  I attempted to mount the angel at the top of the tree, but she leaned towards one side, smiling down on Evelyn (who was quite amused).

AFTER (before additional decorations)

Evelyn's mom arrived home this afternoon and commented on the drunk angel, and handed me a new bag of just-purchased Christmas decorations, and I spent the rest of my time there going crazy and OTT (over-the-top, as the mom says) with the decorations, but baby's first Christmas only happens once, right?!

pink cars

They seem to be the thing here.  I have gone a bit crazy with pink accessories, outfitting my camera, computer, cell phone, iPods (three!), oh, and my blog, in pink...I'm not even sure how that happened, I am not a freak about pink, but they all ended up in some shade of pink.

So I was incredibly intrigued when I spotted my first pink car here in NZ.  A fluke, I thought, like when someone in the U.S. gets a custom paint job from Maaco.  But then they started popping up everywhere.  A few I've seen so far, and have managed to snap pics of...

winter woes

I spent most of today pretending like it was winter.  As I'm sure you have figured out, I am longing for something, anything, that reminds me that it's nearly Christmas.  Today was spitting a cold rain, accompanied by an equally chilling wind.  The family I nanny for even switched back over to the heat.  I wrapped myself in a cardigan and warm socks, and stayed indoors all day, imagining that snow was right around the corner.  I fooled myself pretty well for most of the day, and fell into a luxurious slumber at day's end; cold weather is the BEST for sleeping.

Kiwi's Picnic

Trying a bit of the local lollies...