Maks Update Nov 26th 2006

Today was the 2006 Farmers Santa Parade:
Maks enjoyed it from up on daddy's shoulder's enjoying the view until my shoulders began to get tired so I took her down the hold in my arms but she screamed "up?...UP!!! DADDY!!!" so up she went.
She got a cardboard flag to wave and sported a brand new pink dress she wore for the first time today. Jason who arrived back from South Africa lastnight brought back many presents among them many clothes for Maks and compact video camera's for Donne, leighann and Jason which they had a crash course to figure out during the running of the Santa's parade. We saw a big buzzy bee, clowns on bikes, bob the builder, sponge bob squarepants, and many more. Maks liked the police dog calling out from aloft my shoudlers "Dog...Dog..."
As Donne arrived about 12 minutes after the parade had started we missed most of it but was fun all the same and plan to get maks on one of those floats when she's 5 years old.
Then the long 20 meter walk home from the parade LOL.
We then took several photo's of maks playing around

Maks update nov 25th 2006

Well Maks is truly back to her usual self now with her appetite back on track and literally eating me out of house and home. Must've spent about $300 on groceries the past week just to feed the two of us and she just keeps eating. Good to see she has a healthy appetite tho and I always make sure she has something wholesome to chow down on or a hearty snack without resorting to fatty foods or takeaways to settle her hungry stomach.
We had a loverly day today, She was sposed to stay with Donne lastnight but shortly after she was picked up she was dropped back a few hours later so Donne could go to some drinks with friends. I was at Simon's at the time so she sat comfortably next to me as we watched a dvd movie until she did a nice fragrant poo so we had to leave so I could come home and change her and get her ready for bed. Wasn't expecting to have her so had to pop down the road to buy some milk for her which usually puts her right to sleep. Jake stayed over lastnight as lost his ride home so he slept in the bed next to maks' cot to which he says at about 6am she climbed out of her cot and across his head before clibing down off the bed.
We spent the morning just relaxing around not doing much, just breakfast and bath followed by reading books and then we went to do some grocery shopping. Gave her a light brunch before putting her down for a midday nap at 11ish which gave me time to tidy up the place a little. We popped out for an hour or so to see Simon and Yonne's house they are considering purchasing and then coming back home to see grandad(Yea Yea) who was busy sorting out a few things in 5b with Jake, Karyn and Danika. Cousin Danika was making a mess of things so I brought them up to my place to run rampant...which they did without fail chasing each other around and pulling things out and leaving them anywhere.
Later in the afternoon I took Maks down to Mission Bay to place in the sand and enjoy the play ground. She loved the slide asking to go again and again and again until my back couldn't take anymore so put her on the swing and that kept her busy for a while till we walked back along to beach.
Popped by Foodtown to finish up the groceries on the way home and then gave her a quick dinner before waiting for Donne to pick her up.
Now I'm alone, bored and looking for some thing to do

If you build it....

If you build it people will come.... at the expense of tax payers.

The stadium debate: Viaduct quay or eden park.
Which way should you cast your vote?

Pro's and Con's abound but my personal summary is. If the decision goes to Viaduct Quay then be smart, think long term and the international ramifications a building in such a key location could bring to NZ and the Auckland skyline.
Auckland has enough buildings that look rubbish and a key architectural master piece could be the first stage towards our own Sydney Opera House.
But we neither have the time, resources or funds to complete such an complex project in such a tight time frame. So I vote NO, but wish I didn't have to if ONLY we as NZers could be a little more proactive in looking long into the future and making a plan.

maks update Nov 20th 2006

Today Donne & I had our very first Parent Teacher meeting at Makayla's kindy.
We were able to see her overall progress and certain aims they were helping Maks work on such as her Wellbeing, awareness & social development. Each day we get report cards on what she had done that day, how many bottles she's had, if she had her meals and the number of nappy changes. This report was a little more strutured as too what they want to help the child work towards such as vocal development, learning new words and recognising images.
All day I was excited that my little girl is growing up and discussed how happy we are with Kindercare and how they are assisting in the growth of each child. That they support the social interaction which has really helped generate her speech when talking with teachers and other children such as her friends Shaun, Toby and David. Maks was with us during the meeting where at first was busy going through the papers before the good ol' maks decided to have a grumpy fit on the floor.
After we left we came back up to my place and not feeling like cooking Donne decided we should go see Ray at Gaucho's and have dinner at the down stairs bistro.
Makayla still with the grumpy mood feel asleep in the stroller allowing Donne and I to eat our dinners in peace and make a few plans for our birthdays and for when her friend leanne arrives from South Africa.
Then we came back up stairs and all lay down on my bed to watch Shorty Street (Donne's fav) while Maks fell asleep snugged between us.

Maks Update Nov 16th 2006

Lastnight Maks still had a rather high temperature so put a cold compress on her and had the fan gently sway across her to keep her cool. She enjoyed the little bit of ice cream I gave her as it also helped with her sore throat which is much better today yet not fully recovered.
I lay her down on my bed while I nursed her to sleep watching tv together before laying her in her cot. Still quite warm she went to bed with only her nappy and a lite blanket to cuddle up to and I ended up sleeping in her room pushing the bed up to her cot. at about 2am this morning she woke me up after climbing out of her cot and cuddled up to me with a burning temperature so I brought the fan directly in the room and lay her on top of the bed sheets stroking her back gently to comfort her while she fell back to sleep. I kept waking up every hour to check on her so when she woke me again with a huge smile patting me on the head saying "daddy daddy..." it was time to get her up but she still didn't feel like eating or drinking. I finally managed to give her 100mls of milk which she soon asked for more only wanting to hold the bottle.
I had called my aunty eileen to see if she was free to look after maks so I could get back to work to earn some commission to pay for all her needs and left for work about 0830 after she arrived.
My lunch was at 1pm when I ran down the road to get her prescription bottle and after 3 nights of broken sleep and waiting a lifetime for her medicine to be prep'd I'd fallen asleep in the pharmacy to be woken when the order was ready.
Popped back home for a very quick lunch and to check in on Maks who was enjoying her time in a relaxed mood running around in her nappies.
Felt terrible when I left for work as she was in tears not wanting me to leave but I it was enough to get her 2 hours of sleep that afternoon and when I came home she was lively and almost back to her normal self eating dinner and drank a little more fluids. Ok i better go now and clean up the dinner she threw everywhere....

The History of Maksdaddy - Homes

After spending my childhood and most of my years at Tutbury one evening the family sat down around the family round table and dad explained that we would be moving to Bangkok, Thailand. I most likely phased out there daydreaming of what it would be like to life in a new country that I knew nothing about. I'd been to singapore for 10 days when I was 14 while on a School cricket tour but apart from that I had no idea of what to expect apart from the heat and humidity.

Well on July 4th 1993 (independance day) I remember boarding the plane just a few days after the school ball and staring out of the window as raced down the runway and nose to the sky we lifted off and the view on a clear blue day was a vision I won't forget as I could clearly see the airport below right up to the Whangaparoa penninsula. 11 hours later we touched down on foreign soil and I rechecked my bag for any 'non mikey goods' for fear of any drugs that had been slipped in. Just a tip I put in my mind after watching a Nicole Kidman movie called Bangkok Hilton. I was all excited until the moment we stepped off the plane and the heat swelled up and I thought "CRICKEY it's Hot".
We got to our new home and Karyn and I got to check out our new bedroom's, we both dove onto our beds with an almight Thwack. The beds were so hard and so unexpected it was like falling on the floor and Karyn and I could each hear the thud come from each others room. Later I was too enjoy the firmer bed as it did wonders for my back and I started to sleep better in more comfort than I had when I lived in NZ. The next morning I woke to the rattle of the airconditioner that had been going all night to keep me cool and the new sunlight and smells that affirmed that you were now in a new country. We walked around the corner to the complex to check out the pool which we would enjoy regularly and got sorted unpacking. We drove down the road to check out where dad worked, karyns new school and to the mall to see what we could buy to set up our thailand household.
Such a change standing at the top of the mall looking down at the mirade of black haired heads, looked like an ant farm up close and personal.
The location of our house was located a little east of the Main city centre and would take us over an hour to get there due to traffic. It was called Moo Ban Home Place and we lived there for about a year and created many memories in that time. One cherrished memory of all the family and friends that stayed with us is when Nanna and Grandad came to stay with us. We planned to go out for dinner and we were all down stairs in the living room when Grandad and Dad came walking down the stairs together. The sight was a definate father and son moment, to explain, they both got ready in seperate rooms yet came down wearing almost identical clothing, Same clean sweapt hair cut, framed glasses, shirt, jacket, pants, belt and shoes.
Sorry dad if your reading this but a candid camera moment.

The History of maksdaddy - Education

Two down and Two to go:

The next institution is IHI or the International Hospitality institute which was an american hotel management school affiliated to the institute in America.

located in Bangkok, Thailand I started my first course there just before I turned 18 and covered culinary training and got my first insight to the professionally run kitchen. I was hooked as had always enjoyed cooking and still very much do when i get the chance or the funds to do a nice meal. Trouble is finding worthy people to enjoy my culinary delights.

I had returned to New Zealand to catch up with a few friends and see family over christmas before returning to continue my studies. During this time I made several good friends who loved to party but their idea of a party was to go to an exclusive night club and stand there popping their heads to the early techno of the early 90's and sip on a chivas regal. This might've been nice but I was 18 years old and hitting night clubs where I wouldn't have to spend a single cent and be at the most expensive and most exclusive night club in the entire bangkok area....which is HUGE.
I would be picked up in my friends volve or bmw and taken to Taurus, A night club that housed under one roof, a reception area, a jazz club, a discotec, fine dining restaurant and a sushi bar whcih for a young kid from a country background in NZ was all too taken by it all and it became a regular weekend event for a very long time.
Here I am supposed to talking about the school but really it was the social aspect which got to me as it was such a huge city.
I attended the school for just under one and a half years roughly when as part of the degree had to work 6 months at a hotel. I chose Club Aldiana and German chain much like the French run Club Med. I will cover this in a later blog.
I try to remember what the outlay of the school was, but it was only a small building like an office where I can only make out the study rooms from my memory. i have a bigger memory of the lunch periods which I would walk down the road to buy lunch from a rough tin shack which often it wouldn't be surprising to find a big bug in it considering its location. picture our pieces of corrigated iron held up together and a larger corrigated iron room placed on top in the middle of a filthy dirt patch and you got it. Another memory is having the hottest spiciest food EVER that my face went flushed, my eyes watered and my hearing went. I had run next door to the diary to buy some ice cream that felt like it melted before I got it into my mouth. So it's the more fun times that i remember than anything else

The history of Maksdaddy - Homes

The first home I lived in was named Tutbury and located 25 minutes north of Auckland city. It's physical location was in the cross over of Albany, Dairy Flat and Coastville on a 10 acre block (4 hectres) with a 250 meter ong gravel driveway. In fact the entire road we lived on was gravel up until I was about 8 years of age... approximately. Our house was located about 1km from the main highway which is now the 'old highway' and was a much travelled route before the new motorway system came into play. Technically we weren't located in the General Auckland area but rather considered part of northland or the Rodney Council as our house was located just across the border but neither matters as i support Canterbury Rugby. (akld sux)
The house started out as a small two level 70's house with a master bedroom upstairs which Mom and dad would say I seemed to find easily enough after a houdini out of my cot. It later grew in a full two level house moving the main bedrooms upstairs which was renovated when I was around 8-9 years of age.
A pool was put in, further sections to the farm were placed, Dad built himself a barn at the back which in later years mom uses as a storage place for all our belongings plus several of karyns ex-partners. The school bus would pick Karyn and I just near the top left of the above shown picture to take us to Dairy Flat primary (noted below in a previous blog).
Whilst there I had 3 goats, Chocolate, Jimmy and Snow. 5 cats, Gulliver, Fluffy, Knight, Storm and Charlie. we had two Rabbits, Thunderbird and donald, 2 roosters and several chickens, anything more would be stretching my memory.
We used to play cricket in the back yard and in the later years used to practise my golf shots. A better half of 2 decades of my life were spent living here so too much to cover in a single blog..... Tomorrow, the move to Bangkok Thailand.

Maks Update November 14th 2006

Monday morning 7am: Phone call from Donne to advise that she was on her way to drop Makayla off and I would take her down to Daycare (our regular ritual if she doesn't stay with me the previous nite). 0750am Donne arrives after a rough time in traffic and we trade one tiny tot for a mocha espresso as thought she might enjoy one to begin her day after starting it in traffic. 0810am I've dropped Maks at daycare and she's gives me a kiss goodbye and another blow kiss and "bye bye daddy" which was enough to set me on my happy way up the road to work. 0830 I'm at my desk attempting to log onto the network. 0850am Still trying to log onto the network. The rest of the day was standard up until about 1530 when a call came through from Makayla's Kindy noting that she had a temperature of 39.4 celcius which by their rules children with temperatures exceeding 39degree's must go home. I contacted Donne straight away to let her know what was happening and she we made a plan that she would meet me at my place and we would walk down together to pick her up. We opted not to go to Starship hospital or have her checked over to begin with and just took her home to rest. For Maks she has a reall go go attitude running all over the place yelling and screaming with large as life smiles. All we saw was a really tired little girl who just wanted her mom and dad. She seemed ok once we got her home until we gave her some strawberries and came up with a few red spots but she started to fade out and we noticed a few more rashes so decided as peace of mind after i'd cooked Donne and Myself dinner to pop up to starship to be sure.
2000hrs we left starship and headed home where Donne took Maks home and would drop her off to me for the morning ritual.
Tuesday Morning 7am: Donne calls to advise she's on her way 0745 Donne arrives and I take Maks down and head in to work early. 0820 attempted log on to the network. 9am Log on acheived. 10am Donne calls to advise that kindy called to note that maks is sick and needs to be picked up again so Donne went to pick her up and I put my leave in to cover a half day today and a day off tomorrow. 11am Spoke with Donne who was going about to have a nap with Maks and would call me when they woke up. 1pm: Donne calls to say that Maks temp has gone over 40 degree's so I bailed from work so we could take her back to Starship. 2pm (approx) Donne picks me up and we head to starship. Maks was really clingy and would cry if either Donne or I were to leave her sight and while she was absolutely tired refused to sleep. She had another dose of Pamol and a good check over with the result being a rather red throat and an ear infection. She was checked over lastnight so 1. they did shit arse job checking it or 2. it sprung up quickly. 5pm we were back at my place and Donne and I were absolutely shattered and maks still refused to sleep. I made us a quick sandwich to build up our strength as we hadn't eated much today before giving maks a bath while I got our dinner ready. 1830hrs. Salad, rice noodles and chicken for dinner whilst watching friends and maks started eating. She hasn't eaten much at all since Sunday when all she had for the day was bread and she took on some fluids as well which we were so happy to see and her smile started to come back too much to our relief.
1915hrs: donne leaves to visit our friend sarah and I rest up reading books and making sure she relaxes. 2000hrs: started to put maks to bed 2030hrs she's finally asleep and I start to relax before Mom calls and almost wakes her up. yes mom you almost did but fortunately I answered quickly and closed her bedroom door in time.
I'm hoping she'll be in high spirits tomorrow....its going to be a long long day

The History of Maksdaddy: Education

Over the next few days, with the assistance of Google Earth I will show you in stages, place's I've lived, where I've worked and studied...


I begin the history of Maksdaddy with where I went to school and that starts at a little country school named Dairy Flat Primary. I started there when I turned 5 years of age in J1 and spent time there up until standard four (grade 4). I spent 5 years of my life there and lot's of childhood memories with friends like Nicholas Danks, Andrew Dea's, Melissa and Debbie Wilson, Simon Hallings, Daniel Rich, and many others. A few years back I took our childhood friend Melissa Wilson who now lives in Melbourne Australia for a walk down memory lane when we re-visited our old school and marvelled in how small the chairs/seats were, that the library we thought was HUGE was actually a tiny little room. Peeked in the windows to my old class rooms and they too turned out to be pretty small also which we sat back and laughed once the shock wore off. It was a very small school as it only went as high as Form 2 (intermediate school or Grade 6)

The school has grown moderately since my time there which was over 2 decades ago now (yes i'm that old) but still has all the same earmarked buildings in the same paint scheme as to when I was there right down to the 'square' which was a painted line outside the teachers lounge where the 'naughty' students would have to stand if they'd been misbehaving. We also saw the house team sections of Kowhai, Rimu, Kauri, Puriri to which I was in Kauri.

Dairy Flat Primary is located about 25 minutes north of the harbour bridge, that's a rough estimate on the route you may decide to take but as a rough guide, on the old motorway it's the area just before Silverdale heading northbound.

Unfortunately I did not continue to attend as moved to Kristin where I finished out the remainer of my high school years.

Maks Update Nov 12th 2006

Mak's stayed with her dad in her new cot (danika's old cot) which she has taken to very well as it's much larger than the portable cot I've been using for the past 18 months. It's also higher so she can see out the window now and it's great for me as I don't have to bend down and break my back picking her up.
She's been able to climb up onto the bed with a cushion step so she can get into her cot by herself as i've pushed the bed right up against it and when the rail is lowered its easy for her to climb in and out of. Which is the mistake was a BIG mistake as in the morning she was able to climb out of her cot and wake me up early Saturday just before the sun showed up. I pulled her into bed with me and was able to catch a rest for another hour or so as she climbed over me constantly tucking me into bed and kissing me saying "nite nite daddy" and I thought it was I whom was to put her to bed.

Saturday we picked Donne up and went shopping at Dress Mart as Donne has not yet seen the extention/renovations. We were particularly looking for summer clothes for Maks but it ended up being a window shop as we're both a little strapped for cash at present which isn't making either of our lives any easier.
Makayla was getting pretty tired so we decided to pop back home so she could rest at Donne's and since we were both pretty knackered we ended up just resting there till late and didn't get back round to going out again as planned. Only relaxing and doing her laundry and looking after Maks when she was awake, Donne made us a nice roast for dinner Yum.
Today Donne is back at work so Maks' and I went to see her and Jess (Donne's work friend) at work and bring her some lunch. Tried to feed her some rice and chicken but she threw most of it that the actually eating side of things, ah kids.
Was planning on doing some grocery shopping while there but Maks wouldn't let me then she fell asleep in the car so just came back home to where I am now....
So I'm on the net and she's sleeping, think I might grab a few Zzzzzz's now too

"Kristin, the Finest School we know..."

you remember how the school song went....

Here's a looksee to see just how much it's changed since the time of Maksdaddy.

The area we once knew as the secondary school area has now become the middle school. The secondary school has moved into a university type building more like a modern type Grange Hill episode (if you remember this british program then your feeling about as old as I am) The facilities available there now are incrediable providing huge potential for school students now to train and break into many different area's of expertise or get a very well rounded education, truly impressive.

This is Me :-)

Maks Update November 06'

It's been a while since my last update so I think I'll start by listing the words Makayla can say now, to my best recollection

Dog, Cat, hi, Hello, Bye (inc.bye bye), Mamma, Dad, Dadda, daddy, mommy, mom, Yea Yea (chinese for grandad-paternal), No, That way, Mine, Breakfast, boo, yay, clap, book, wazzup, marks get set go, can count 1 thru to 6, chase, more, ta, push, jacket, shoe, hand/s, feet/foot, arm, light, tummy, eye, nose, ear, sheep, pig, cow, horse, brush, hat, baby, bottle, milk, drink, poo, wee, button, car, bus, ball, bike, chair, bath, sit, orange, apple, nah-na (banana), like, hot, Nanna, Opa (Oh-Pah), jase (for uncle Jason), phone, boat, duck, swish swish swish, auto, sock, bubble, splash, wash, bar,

Friends whose name she can say, Kade - Toby - Sean & David (unfortunately the 3 boys she hangs with)

Crikey that's my brain racked, she know's more but I can't for the life of me think what they are at the moment, but that's a good attempt

Joke of the day

FAIR TRADE

President Bush gets out of his helicopter in front of the White House carrying a baby pig under each arm.

The Marine guard snaps to attention salutes and says "nice pigs Mr. President"

Bush replies "these aren't pigs, these are Texan Razorback hogs. I got one for Secretary of State, Rice and i got one for Defence Secretary, Rumsfeld."

The Marine again sanps to attention, Salutes and says, " Nice trade, Mr. President"

Emirates Team New Zealand

Closing ever nearer to the kick start of the Louis Vuitton Cup in April 2007 ETNZ have now completed the hull of the second boat to be part of the next campaign. NZL92 took over 20,000 hours to complete and like many other racing yachts before the final finishing touches were completed by the sailors themselves. This campaign ETNZ are making sure that their masts hold up under the rigours off competitive sailing after our 2003 campaign had too many flaws therefore various tests were undertaken to ensure full strength to recall our Cup back to local shores. Each of the 12 storey high masts has over four kilometres of cabon fibre cloth rolled and cooked together in an oven at 135 degrees before being hoisted into place on each of the yachts.

All the best guy's