Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere! - Part 2

Dear Friends, Family and Unknown Groupies,

In case you are one of those who wonders how Santa Clause manages to get all the way around the world in one night, we figure it really helps to have multiple time zones and an international date line. While most of our friends and family are gearing up for Christmas Eve, we were already in the post-gift-unwrapping clean-up stage.



We have had a very pleasant and relaxing first "Kiwi-Christmas". After weeks of bright sunshine and long, comfortable summer evenings, today was different. For most of the morning, we had fog, rain and a cool breeze, finally clearing in the evening - but remaining cooler than usual. It is almost enough to make you think we are spending the big day in the Pacific Northwest! Just the right kinda day for laying around the house enjoying all our new gifts. Connor had a very merry "Bob-the-Builder-Christmas" and Eric and I received a few of the books and DVDs we had on our Amazon.com wish lists, so thanks to our family who thought to go online and shop a month in advance of the holiday! (The belated stuff we are still waiting to receive will be a bonus, and much appreciated as well.)



Health-wise, we are all doing well. Eric has mostly recovered from his anniversary gift to me (a vasectomy); and, I am enjoying my 1 1/2 weeks off of work - which does not even cut into my regular 4 weeks of annual leave which I will probably use later next year. This week was also the start of Connor's longest holiday from school, (Eric and I are praying that we survive the next six weeks).


On the job front, mine is still going quite well and I am enjoying it immensely. Unfortunately, Eric has not had any luck and is still looking for employment. While my income is sufficient for us to live, it is not enough to buy the only home we have found in Connor's school zone that we really, really like. (See: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Property/Residential-Property/Houses-for-sale/auction-128543192.htm?key=309558) So, we ask that you continue praying that Eric finds just the right job and that "dream home v.2" becomes available shortly thereafter.

I am quite proud of Eric these days. Despite the setbacks on the job search front, he has remained optimistic and really picked up the task of being a homemaker/dad and run with it! Before his recent surgery, he was in the habit of walking Connor to and from school every day, helping with homework, fixing Connor's lunchbox, doing the grocery shopping, housework, laundry, yard work, making dinner, . . ., the whole nine yards! He still works hard, though his recovery has slowed him a bit as you can imagine, and he and Connor have really built a nice bond out of this new routine. Seeing them together in this way has really made going back to work a lot easier on me than I had anticipated.

Well, I must get back to the post-holiday cleanup and wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day and New Year! We love and miss you and wish you well in the coming new year!

Love, Linda, Eric & Connor

Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere!

Merry Christmas Friends, Family and Kiwi-Wannabes,

After spending my entire life in the Northern Hemisphere, I confess that it is taking a bit of work to get used to the reversal of the seasons - especially when the holidays fall on the same days of the year!

First it was Halloween in the Spring, instead of Fall; and, now, I am gearing up for celebrating Christmas during the height of summer! Not that I ever had any "White Christmases" growing up in Florida; but, when you see pictures of Santa in shorts carrying a surf board and Kiwi birds wearing sleigh bells you just can't keep any illusions about how far away from the North Pole we live.


The days are now longer - usually not getting dark till 9pm. The weather is warmer and sunnier and the thinner ozone layer definitely makes you feel like you are being microwaved when standing out in direct sunlight, though it is certainly not oppressively hot/humid and you still might want to wear long sleeves in the evenings. The DIY-handymen and gardeners are out in force, we can keep the windows open nearly all day - though it is doing a number on my sinuses, the smell of BBQs fill the evening, we have more bird crap on our car that you can imagine, and the whole country is gearing up to go on vacation!


In a way, it really is great that the Christmas/Boxing Day/New Years Holidays fall right when everyone is ready to be outdoors, because they get plenty of time off work for the holidays without having to use up personal leave time to go on vacation. I, for instance, get all but one day off between the 22nd of Dec and the 3rd of Jan - and that is without having to use any of my leave time! Connor gets his biggest break of the year from school, starting the 20th of December and not having to go back until February!


Last weekend the entire Gross-Family-Unit went Christmas tree shopping. Though I had seen trees in the windows of homes, I had not seen any outdoor lots full of live trees so I was starting to get concerned that we were going to be stuck getting a fake tree. Then I discovered that they keep the live trees indoors so the heat doesn't dry them out too quickly. We found a lovely 7' live tree (only $45 NZD) that wasn't too fat to fit through our sliding glass door from the back deck. I decided to put the tree in the dining room, because there was more space there than in the living room, and it would be out of the way of Connor's activities - for the most part.


For the past three Christmases, while we were living in Arkansas, we were in the habit of not decorating or getting a tree because we spent those holidays with family in Florida. That was fun and we do miss having family with us this year; but, it is also great to not have to drive anywhere this year and to be able to pull out all our old decorations and reminisce about them. This was also the first year ever that Connor was able to help with the job of decorating the tree, and he even contributed the paper angel that we put on top - since we still haven't found a new light-up angel that we like. We had lots of fun last Sunday getting the tree set up, and pulling out the giant Santa that my Grandpa won back in the mid-1960s. (Yes, after decades of a subtle family tug-of-war over the Santa, Connor finally won possession of the prized family heirloom - without even asking!)


Tomorrow, the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC), where I frequently work when not at Police National Headquarters (PNHQ), will be having a Kid's Christmas Party. I promised Connor we would take him and he has been excited about it all week. A live Santa will be there and they are supposed to have rides in Police cars, a bouncy castle, food, games and other stuff. It is also a pretty drive over the mountains to the Tasman Sea - which is viewed from the College campus in Porirua(about 40 minutes from Wellington).

In other news, Connor had an eventful week before last. After having a rather poor day of behavior at school a week ago Monday, he decided he would get some more positive attention by swallowing a 10 cent piece (looks like an American penny). I immediately called the hospital, which evidently gets a LOT of these kinds of calls. Since the coin seemed to have gone down okay, not causing any trouble with his breathing and swallowing, they simply recommended we keep an eye out for the coin to pass through his system. (I think this was also the first time Connor became cognizant of the fact that what he eats and what he poops are related.) Anyway, we looked all week but never saw the coin, so we took him to the hospital for x-rays a week later. Other than having to wait his turn, that actually went quite well. Connor even got to see an American doctor from California who looked like he belonged in one of those TV medical dramas. Anyway, the x-rays showed no coin, and he hasn't shown any sign of pain or difficulty, so we are all pretty confident that the coin was passed and we just missed it somehow. We were also thrilled to discover that the two full x-rays and the doctor consultation cost us absolutely nothing! (Oh, how I love socialized health care! Did I tell you our RXs only cost us $3? Yeah, I did, but I still can't get over that!)

Back to the behavior issues that lead to Connor swallowing the coin - Eric met with the school Principal, teacher and education specialist, who all had some constructive advice and recommendations. We were very impressed to see the amount of time, money and individual attention they are willing to give Connor to help him learn how to relate to other children and deal with his emotions in a less physical manner. They even are assigning a special teacher aid to go out with Connor during his unstructured play time (when most of the problems occur) and help guide him into healthy, playful interactions with the other children and defuse conflict before it gets out of hand.

Also in other news, Eric is still looking for a job, but he did apply for a position with NZ Police in the same building where I work. The job involves analyzing intelligence gathered on suspected terrorists and terrorist groups and liaising with multiple agencies and internal personnel with counter-terrorist assistance. It sounds fascinating and it would allow us to work near each other, commute and have lunch together, without being right in the middle of each other's work group. Please keep him in your prayers that this opportunity, or something even better, works out for him.

Well, that about covers our news at the moment. We are looking forward to the holidays and hope that they find you all healthy, happy and enjoying the love of those around you!

Love from Down Under,

Linda

"Only You Can Stop Forest Fires", Connor!

What a beautiful Saturday! Just had to post a couple of pics of our very own "Smokey the Bear", out in our front yard with the hose.





Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends and family! We love and miss you all and hope this holiday is a pleasant one for you.

Love, Linda, Eric and Connor

Model Train Expo

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to post a couple of pics from the Model Train Expo 2007, held at the TSB Arena on Queens Wharf this weekend.


Today (Sat) is a very sunny and warm day with a pleasant breeze, colorful wildflowers blooming and people out doing typical Saturday afternoon chores (at least typical for people who aren't lazy like us). This morning we took the commuter train into the Wellington CBD (Central Business District), walked over to Queens Wharf, had an early lunch at an outdoor cafe, visited the Expo, walked back to the train station for our ride back to Petone/Maungaraki, and picked up ice cream cones on our way back up the hill to home. Now we are just vegging out and enjoying having all the windows open, watching the sailboats on the harbour and listening to the birds singing their odd songs, (in between Connor's normal shrieks and chatter).


For family and friends back in the U.S., I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday this week. Since it isn't a holiday here, I expect to be working as usual that day, and see no reason to spend a day cooking a big meal just for the three of us. We will probably go out to eat again next weekend and maybe do a bit more exploring around the region. But, we will be thinking of all of you - thanking God for blessing us with such wonderful loved ones - and wishing you all health, wealth and happiness.

Happy Holidays,
Linda, Eric & Connor

Connor, The Yard Man

I guess you can take the boy out of Arkansas, but you can't take the Arkansas out of the boy. Here are a few shots I just took of Connor doing "yard work" in his John Deere hat and t-shirt.


After using his toy lawn mower, Connor planted a flower and then decided it needed to hear a love song in order to grow. He likes to sing with one hand in the air and one hand over his heart, for some reason.


He thoroughly watered the plants and ripped off the leaves he deemed imperfect from the rose bush at the end of our deck. (If our landlord is reading this, don't worry, I put a stop to that fairly quickly.)


Eric hasn't been bagging our yard clippings - hence the carpet of daisies that spring up across the yard a few days after each mow. Every week there are more, so we expect at some point the yard will be ALL daisies - except where Connor conscientiously picks them for my bouquets.

Cheers, Linda

Linda's First Week At Work

Greetings All,

Well my first week at NZ Police National Headquarters, Operational Services Group, went really well. There is an overwhelming amount of work to do. So much so that my boss is probably going to look for additional resources, but none of the tasks appear to be beyond my ability at this point.

The focus of the work is actually really interesting - concerning how police employ the various tactical options at their disposal in order to resolve a situation. I will be responsible for the on-going development and maintenance of the database which records all uses of force by Police, then drawing that data out, analyzing it, and making it useful for a number of stakeholders.

On my first day, after a bit of time in HR, I was given a whirlwind tour of the high rise building where I work, then taken to the Wellington Watch House to see how subjects in custody are brought in and processed. Then the Inspector assigned to show me around drove me all over the region to show me some other Police facility locations of various sizes, the Royal NZ Police College, and the Police Dog training facility. At some point I will get to go on a ride along with Police, and will also get to observe tactical training at the college first hand.

I am blessed to still have the woman I am supposed to replace working with me until the Christmas holidays. She is frantically finishing up her projects, but squeezing in some time to show me the ropes. I feel good about my new boss as well. John is an older man, but still quite energetic and passionate about his work. He is supportive and sensitive to the fact that our group is frequently given so many divergent tasks that it is hard for anyone to actually finish something. He wants to give me plenty of time to get up to speed, and he is zealously protecting me from demands on my time that are not directly relevant to my job focus.

The only complaint I have so far is the workplace layout is not really conducive to intense concentration. I am on the third floor of a high rise surrounded in windows, but to fit a number of people onto the floor and ensure that everyone has natural light, they have an open-plan layout with half-wall dividers. You can sit at your computer and look across the wall to the next person sitting at their computer. Noise and distractions can be hard on an analyst, so when I asked if I could schedule a workday at home each week (Tuesdays), just so I can read all the materials I need to read, my supervisor was very supportive. In addition, I have scheduled another day a week (Wednesdays) to go out to the Royal NZ Police College in Porirua and work with the analyst out there who is most familiar with what I will be doing. I will also be getting a laptop, so that I can go wherever I need to go to concentrate on my work.

In addition to this kind of workplace flexibility, I was thrilled to see the number of holidays given. As many of you know, one of the big selling points to us when we decided to move to NZ was that they have a mandatory 4 full weeks of paid vacation for every full-time employee, regardless of job. But in addition to 4 weeks of annual leave, there are something like 11-12 national holidays as well. When I arrived at Police, I discovered that government employees also get a few extra holidays (Stat or Statutory Holidays, as well as individual Commissioners give their employees holidays). For example, without having to take ANY of my annual leave time off, I will only have to work 1 day between December 21 and January 3rd, thanks to all the National/Commissioners/Stat Holidays given to me as a Police employee!

So, for 37 hours and 50 minutes per week (don't ask me why it isn't 40 hrs per week, I am not complaining), I will be extremely busy at work; but, I will get the schedule flexibility and more time off than I have ever had with any job before.

Since Eric hasn't started a job yet, he has been fantastic about walking Connor to and from school on those days that I take the car into town; or, driving me to work and Connor to school on the other days. He has done the grocery shopping, housework, cooking, laundry, Connor's homework and fixing his lunchbox, etc. It has been a joy to come home at the end of a long day and know that I don't have a ton of little household tasks to perform. He has been such a great "House Husband" it almost makes me not want him to find a full-time job, though I know we need the income.

Thanks again to those of you who have prayed on my behalf for just such a career fit. Please keep up the prayers on Eric's behalf. If he can find a fit that is equally as nice as mine, we will be in fantastic shape!

Take care and, for friends and family in the U.S., know that we love and miss you all and can't wait for you to come over for a visit!

Cheers, Linda

A Picnic and Tramp (Not What You Think)

For my last Saturday as a "Stay at Home Mom" we decided to have a picnic and hike, (or "tramp" as they say here in Kiwi-land), in Belmont Regional Park. This huge reserve lies between our Hutt Valley Hills suburb of Maungaraki and the Tasman Sea coastal suburb of Porirua. The park's hundreds of acres contain dozens of trails for "tramping", biking and horseback riding, as well as sites for picnics and tent camping, and it is all nearly at our doorstep - just a block up the hill from our home.



The trail we took on Saturday was really beautiful and felt like a totally different world from the one just over the ridge facing the harbour. This trail wound deep into a canopied rain forest. Though it was a nice trail and a fairly easy walk going in, we knew that every step we took would mean another step UP HILL coming back and the clouds were promising rain later in the day, so we didn't go too far into the reserve this time around.



Connor had a ball learning about nature and orienteering, and we really felt invigorated and refreshed when we were done. So far, knock on wood, I am not even all that sore. I am sure this convenient wilderness area is going to become a regular haunt for the Gross family as summer approaches.

Cheers, Linda