MaksDaddy Herald

Happy New Year

2009-01-08T11:07:00.001+13:00

Hope everyone brought the new year in with a bang.

This is my first post in well over a month now and needless to say several things have taken place in that time mostly notably is christmas.

But we'll get to those eventually, for now, I wish everyone a happy new year.

End of an Era - Nick turns 21

2008-11-27T17:23:00.000+13:00

Last in the line of cousin's on my mothers side to join the 21st (and over) club.

Lastweek I and the family met at Auckland's London Bar to celebrate Nick's 21st with his friends. Sad to say but it was alarming to see so many baby faces in the mix truly starting to show my age now as I heard their conversations primarily covering gossip and nothing else. Normally I'd find myself in the presence of people discussing politic's, economics, finance & good places to take the kids on weekends.

The highlight of my evening was going to the gent's finding my cousin Nick throwing up in the bathroon. I couldn't do anything but crack up laughing as "been there done that" sprung to mind. We've all been down that road of hunging a toilet at least once in our lives. Good to see he's got some spirit thou and appreciate the good laugh. Good to know he had several good friends to help him out tho, as good friends are always great to have around especially when they're your ride home.

Anway Happy Birthday Nick - hope ya had a good one.

APEC Update

2008-11-24T10:55:00.000+13:00

24 hours following being sworn in as New Zealands Prime Minsiter, John Key was presenting his first official speech at APEC. Whilst Mr. Keys is new didnt mean that he would tread carefully taking aim at the G20 leaders saying they have put their reputations on the line calling for an agreement by the end of this year on the crucial decisions needed to take this round to a successful conclusion. Also adding that thier credibility was shot unless they complete the latest round of trade talks following on from the G20 meeting in the last few weeks.He was direct and made a very strong impact but did not step on any toes whilst making his point clear, this was later backed by the Australian Prime Minister whom said "if the G20 dropped the ball on this it would represent a failure on political leadership...the world expects political leaders to act not simply describe events."

John Key also had the opportunity to meet with outgoing US President Bush saying that he would like to meet with Mr. Keys later in the week. This is a great opportunity for NZ to be heard and open future trade negotiations which we can hopefully close within the next year or so. If Mr Keys could close on any agreement whilst attending the APEC meeting in Peru, he would be an absolute legend doing something that Labour could not.

Maks Update 24/11/2008

2008-11-24T10:35:00.000+13:00

After what seemed like a busy morning working from home it flew by and before I knew it my preset alarm went off advising me it was time to pick Makayla up. Once I walked thru the door one of her friend recognised me and ran off to find Makayla screaming "Makayla you daddy's here" to which she came running around the corner and flung herself at my leg squeezing tightly before she let go and grabbed her back saying "are we going now?!!."

In the car it was down to our usual conversations about red light green light and we don't like the red lights. We found blue cars and even a train and once again she pointed out where I work.

Once home I got her dinner ready as she watched her movie (if your a regular ready you'll be familiar with what movie I'm talking aobut here) happily singing along to each song. After dinner we watched another Barbie movie, The Diamond Castle which she got thru further before she decided she didn't like the Dragon, Slider, so I gave her a bath washing her hair with her helping me. After I had dried her hair and tied it up out of her eyes we jumped into the car and drove down to Aunty Kaz's place to pick mom up to save her walking back up the hill. Once home we finished watching the diamond castle with her pointing and screaming "its the diamond castle, look its pretty."

I probably managed to stay awake maybe 30 mins longer before I had to crash myself. When I woke she was rip roaring ready to go for the day and it was a brill day so what did we do.

What did we do? Oh yes, we went down the Karyns place for a while where the kids played for an hour or so as Kaz got ready and once we were we all jumped in the car and drove out to Jakes house to see the kittens. There were a good litter there and the little things are just too cute for words (will post photos shortly.) Danika and Makayla just loved playing with them, one did scratch Maks but she deserved it as she juggled the cat up and down LOL but she learnt Not to do that again. Jake also took me for a fun rip around the block in his 4wd beast, now that was fun and cant wait to see it go off road.

Afterwards we returned home and Maks and I took a nap before we went to visit Simon & Yoni where we stayed for dinner.

Sunday Morning, I woke up to find stickers all over my face and hands. Wonder 'who' put them there. The weather had turned as I was pretty wiped out so we didnt end up doing much apart from her and Danika watching Barbie Mermaidia.

Several hours later after a good nap we relaxed on the couch watching Mcdonalds farm before I gave her a quick wash up and we were off to drop her to Donne who had spent the weekend in Morrinsville visiting her sister and had passed buy Candyland and I believe had made a really big lollipop for Maks who was more than happy to get started on it.

APEC

2008-11-20T10:35:00.000+13:00

National leader and NZ Prime Minister Elect John Keys has now been sworn in and taken a pay rise (approx $400k) and already facing a difficult task handling the current economic crisis as he heads off to Peru to attend the APEC conference with other world leaders with the main item on the agenda being the resolution of the global economy. This follows on from lastweeks meeting with President Bush ending his speech with "...Good Bye."

For John Key being newly elected, this will be a good opportunity to meet with other world leaders and push trade agreements with other nations. President elect Obama will also be attending the APEC meeting, where we hope New Zealand will get a chance to build on their current relationship with America.

NZ Redundancies

2008-11-20T10:24:00.000+13:00

Already this year many companies have made cuts in regards to their staffing levels to combat the global recession. This week alone ANZ National Bank have cut 3000 to 5000 staff across the board and Air NZ have so far cut 200 staff and cant rule out more, included in the cuts is they are standing down 1 aircraft with another expected to join it.

Only the larger companies have made national headlines but there are still many more companies making cuts primarily those that deal in areas of Finance, Motor Vehicles and Realty. such as recruitment companies, Car Sales (new vehicle sales) and finance companies.

Companies are also reducing costs on how they deal with their staff christmas functions. Several have cancelled outright whereas others are seeking cheaper alternatives leaving function facilities such as hotels and conference centres short on catering and planned events. In fact smaller business such as taverns are reaping this business holding/booking christmas functions as they allow a lower priced business expense.

Still only time will tell of the battle ground being fought on to create new business and keep the profits rolling in.

A New Dawn

2008-11-08T22:53:00.005+13:00

Tomorrow morning we'll wake up to a National lead goverment.
The results haven't been fully finalised but its pretty much a done and dusted deal. The crown BMW vehicle has arrived at his home to take the New Elect Prime Minister to the National Party 'Party' and celebrate the win which was closer than I initially expected but like in Golf, its the result that counts in the end.

Helen Clark would be considering when the opportune time to place the congratulatory call through to John Keys. John Keys is apparantly waiting on that call at his home prior to departing to the celebrations so it does show some dignity towards the former prime minister and will be waiting at his home until she arrives at her party HQ to meet with her staff & supports.

WELDONE TO NATIONAL, JOHN KEYS AND PERSONAL CONTRATULATIONS TO RODNEY HIDE AND HIS ACT PARTY
whom now have 5 seats up 3 from the last election.

Election's 08' Auckland Central

2008-11-08T22:32:00.002+13:00

Sing along to the Beathles Song Hey Jude.

"hey Dude, you lost your seat
it went to Na-tional, under Hay-e-es
remember the days when you held your seat
cos its not yours, Hayes will make it beta betta better YEAH."

************************************
Returning from the ACT Party party in Orakei we are holding strong on 3.7 and Rodney Hide looks to easily win the Epsom seat with a large margin of comfort. ACT are holding with 5 seats where 6 would be nice maybe a long shot. John Keys however looks set to take the lead in a new era for New Zealand leading with house seats and running at 10%+ over Labour however its not yet fully tallied with another 2 percent to calculate yet National look set to form the next government.

COMMANDER AND CHIEF

2008-11-05T17:11:00.005+13:00

Ten Minutes ago, CNN announced the new President of the United States and Commander and Chief is Barrack Obama(democrat). Obama will become the 43rd president to take office and be the first Black american to reside in the Oval Office. His running mate Joe Biden will follow him to Washington DC to take the position as Vice-President.

John McCain(Republican) fought well like a trooper right up to the last minute and congratulate him on a well run campaign in what will probably go down in posterity as the presidential election of the century.

**
On a side bar I still prefered David Palmer as the first black american president from the TV series 24.

US Presidential Elections

2008-11-05T15:00:00.003+13:00

Only time will tell once all votes are tallied however the news is littered with updates that there is an unprecedented number of voting occuring. Record numbers of early voters and long lines streaming out into carparks with people waiting to cast their nomination for President.

Lawyers have been working overtime also to ensure the dibacle or the 2000 election is note repeated with ballet votes beoing counted over and over and over again. FLorida will be wanting to get it right this time for sure.

NZ Elections 2008

2008-11-04T12:16:00.000+13:00

Lastnight the leader debate was televised with childish arguments with John Campbell struggling to keep both Labour and National Leaders in Tow. I think John did a great job given the circumstances but felt the debate was unprofessional compared to the more mature debates between McCain and Obama and even Palin and Biden. They brought up the 'Trust' issue and Helen noted that Labour has reduced unemployment and crime rate yet we are finding more redundancies than ever before and the crime rate has gotten severly out of control with serious murders occuring more commonly. National and ACT both want strickter laws governing crime in NZ ie. 3 strikes and your out and all Labour say is "trust us" which is an easy statement to make. Recall the story of Mogli in the Juggle Book and the Snake whos catch phrase was "trust in me." Well that's how I personally see Labour presently as a snake lurking in the shadows swallowing up the economy under mismanagement.

Jumped for Joy when Rodney(ACT) joined with John Keys as they are the parties I wish to take on the new government. While my vote goes for ACT, I strongly support John Keys also to take the helm and lead NZ into a prosperous future.

US Presidential Election

2008-11-04T00:17:00.002+13:00

At the time of this posting there is 1 day, zero hours and 40 minutes until America decides whom will take office come January 2009, Sen. John McCain with Gov. Sarah Palin or the Obama/Biden team. I guess the truth will soon be announced and either way controversy shall follow regardless of the outcome. It has been a good battle and easily overshadowed the local NZ news of our own govt elections even after tonights debate with neither candidates holding quite the firm mature professionalism at their US counterparts.

But before a new Prime Minister is alloted to NZ Parliment, we shall soon find the winner of the US Presidential Running.

The Callaway FTiQ Driver 2008

2008-11-03T17:56:00.004+13:00

This month Callaway will release a new driver in New Zealand called the FTiQ a follow up to its elder brother the FTi. When the FTi first hit the shelves it was a bold new evolution in golf with many other companies introducing their own versions such as the Nike Sasquatch. The square head driver meant that the golfer could visually square up to the ball, that the head would hold its shape better and more balanced at MOI (moment of inertia). The first time I trialed the FTi the impression was intense for I could increase my swing speed and still trust that the face would hold its shape at impact and I could still hit the ball straight down my line but with a lot more distance achieved.

The brand new FTiQ takes that one step further . To describe the FTiQ as a more sporty version of its predecessors is an understatement for to simply say its the M5 BMW over a standard 5-series would barely scrape the surface as this is definately a supercar of golf clubs(drivers). The rear of the club is reminicent to that of Lamborghini's special limited edition Reventon which was based on the F22 stealth fighter jet. To put a supercar on the same equal level as a golf club is just unthinkable but lets look at it like this. The style is equal to that of a supercar being sleek & strikingly eye appealing, its performance is exquisite, power surpasses all others, balanced and controlled stability, massive amounts of torque & 0-100 in a nano-second. The sheer design makes you wonder if its aerodynamic design was tested in a wind-tunnel like every modern super or hyper car that ever hits the road, and this design is a vast improvement over the FTi model as the improved aerodynamics would reduce drag, a bold statement to make as its just a visual assesment. The Driver also has power to weight ratio giving the driver improved comfort and confidence however unlike any sports car it houses an internal hyperbolic chamber, unless Michael Jackson beat us to the punch on that one.

IF Jeremy Clarkson was at all a golfer, this is the club he'd have in the bag.

pic's

2008-10-29T21:21:00.002+13:00

A Golfer's Test

2008-10-29T20:20:00.002+13:00

Here's a little test: If your standing out in the open air and you notice an object near or far do you test the distance thinking "hmmm that cars about an 8 iron away?" or do you take it one step further "approx 135 meters, 1 metre down angle, wind right to left moderate head wind. Options: Full 8 iron or 7 iron on half backswing an 80% of maximum effort."

I find myself running those thoughts often when even in the open air standing around chilling. So that's Mike, with golf on his mind when he has a moment to spare as an escape from work and the perfect way to test myself. After two months from picking my clubs up last the boys and I headed out early sunday morning to Manukau Golf Course for a round. Never played that course before but after walking off the 18th green after some pretty heavy rain and wind spells i ended up with a score of 87 or 15 over par. Normally I'd be pretty pissed with that kind of score but seeing as though its only my 6th round for the year and we played in some terrible conditions it was a score I could accept falling only 1 short of Dale "daly" Heighway and Simon "Singh" Johnson who've played the course several times already this year so was able to hold my own.
As we walked up to the 18th green the heaven's opened up and dropped a bucket on us then the hail set in turning the green into white, so we were pretty happy we'd just finished our last putts prior to that setting in. On average I'd have to say we had heavy rain approximately every three holes where we were constantly putting on and taking off our wet weather gear and thank god I remembered to pack it.

Some Very Impressive Bikes from Ferrari

2008-10-29T20:12:00.004+13:00

Maks Update Oct 28th

2008-10-28T20:51:00.002+13:00

Friday: Walking up the ramp to the front door of Makayla's kindy I found her hanging from the play gym rings happily swinging away until she saw me then dropped and ran to meet me at the door. I had about 5 meters to reach the door, she had about 15 yet I entered thru the door she was jumping up and down for me. Scooping her up in my arms with a big hug we said goodbye to Caleb her friend who's birthday party we would attend the following day.
As soon as we got home she demanded that I put 'her' movie Barbie: The Island Princess on to which she happily set about watching it over and over. I asked if she wanted to go for a swim and preferred to watch her movie which was ok as she had abit of a cough going again. After dinner we decided to hmmm watch the barbie movie again before I put her in the bath and readied her for bed. Placing her down to rest her head I read her a short story before she closed her eyes and fell fast asleep so i gave her a kiss on her forehead and went to bed myself.
Saturday: about 1040 we arrived at her friend Calebs birthday party and the Ellerslie YMCA held in the gymnasium with all the kids playing various games. It was great for they had so much room to run around and play, her best friend rosie was there too and they both loved swinging on the gymnastic rings time and time again. They put on a lovely spread with so many lollies I almost felt sick looking at it all but allowed maks to have a good share so long as she knew that she wouldnt be getting anymore for the rest of the weekend. After the party we came home and took a nap as we were both exhausted and must've gone down for a couple of hours after running around at the party. Later that afternoon sort of eludes me, but at some point Danika came round and the two played for a while and watched a new barbie movie I got. That evening I gave maks a bath so it would free me up to watch the Rugby final between Canterbury and Wellington with Red taking the win by one point. After the game we sent Danika home and I put maks to bed after I sung her a short song but ended up coming out as she couldnt sleep so I put her in my bed for a while until she fell asleep and when I came to bed I transferred her to her bed.
Sunday:having an early round of golf scheduled it was a change for me to be up before her, after I was ready I walked in and gave her a bug and kiss then left for my car only forgetting the keys, Do'h, so heading back inside I found maks sitting on the couch after just turning her kids programs on, I had to laugh.
After the game I got home just after midday and went down to my sisters house where mom had taken her to see Danika and the rest of the family. Stef and Carl were there with baby William almost ready to start crawling and is not too far from it all.
I could see maks starting to get a bit scratchy and iritated so it picked her up and we came home to have a rest and I surely needed it after my round of golf earlier in the day with my back in much pain. After our nap she took a while to wake up so on came The Island Princess (no surprises there) but we only played the songs she could sing along to. Crikey mind blank can't recall what we did after that LOL i think that we just took it easy, practising to write her name, drawing and lots of cuddles and tickles hahaha
Monday: The morning was quiet as we waited for mom the pack ready to fly off to Hong Kong so when she was finally ready we jumped in the car and went to pick Kaz up. There was still a bit of time so the kids played around for a while before deciding to watch yet another Barbie movie (one I dont have....yet) but they tired of that quickly which was ok as was time to head off to the airport. Once there we all had lunch together and then raced to the 3rd level to wave goodbye to mom after she'd passed thru immigration. On the way home I decided to take the long slow drive home to allow maks time for a decent nap in the car as we also had to drop Kaz and Danika home. When we finally got home she was refreshed and rip roaring ready to go and we still had 2 hours spare before Donne picked her up on her way to a friends so that time was spent productively writing, chasing her around, playing hide and seek and eating some fruit. Donne picked her up sometime after 4pm where afterwards I caught a good nap after a very long weekend of fun.

maks update 17/10/08

2008-10-17T13:44:00.002+13:00

Donne dropped maks off to me on the thursday after I finished work just before 6pm. As they drove into the car park I saw my little girls little hand waving up at me thru the window. I reached in to undo her seatbelt and picked her up in my arms as she was dressed in her PJs with little pink slippers on as Donne had given her a bath before leaving her house. After we waived Donne goodby as she drove out of the car park it was upstairs to start out weekend of fun n games.

That evening was relatively uneventful with her sitting back to watch her Barbie movie over and over and over again and again, we also spent more time teaching her how to write her own name, coloured in some pictures for a colouring in competition they are holding at work for kids. Shortly after 8pm I put her into bed and sang a song to her before she went to sleep waking in the early hours of friday morning. The night before I'd shown her how to load her movie on my computer which I hold in my lounge area. That particular wall backs on to my bedroom wall so at about 7am I heard this happy scream from the lounge after some tapping and thumping on the computer keyboard saying "Daddy !!! I Did it !!!" meaning she'd started up the movie on her own as I snuggled my head into my pillow thinking 'k Mike, time to get up and get her breakfast now, come on you fat bastard."
She happily munched down her breakfast whilst watching her movie while I showered and dressed in ready for the days activities. The first activity was to pop into work quickly to hand in the colouring pictures she'd done the night before and check what accounts I had come in that day. We said a very quick hello and goodbye to a few people then ran across the road to foodtown where Aunty Kaz and Danika were waiting for us.
After we filled up with the weekend groceries we jumped in the car and I brought her home for a nap at around 11.30am and let her go dream for an hour and a half before she pop out of her room wiping the tiredness from her eyes and crawling up next to me on the couch as I finished watching the sport. Later that afternoon I decided to take her for a bike ride at Mission Bay where she rode from the park area right around to the next bay heading towards St. Helliers and then back again. Mom met us there and decided she'd take maks to see Danika and as they walked off to mom's car parked at the far end, I watched as she ran along the beach. As I drove home I passed the park and noticed Maks getting onto the swings so I had a little chuckle as I drove off. Can't recall what happend for the rest of the day but the following day we met up with Danika so Mom and I took them both down for a swim. Danika is really coming along with her swimming and maks too was doing quite well also considering it was only her second swimming lesson I'd given her.
After the swim I brought her home for a good nap before we left to have dinner with at my cousin stef's house with hubby and little boy William. Maks enjoyed playing with William, who's now about 7 months old now and growing fast, showing him how to play with the toys.

Sunday was to be a big day, so I packed up colouring in books, toys & my computer loaded with her movie as we left home shortly after 11am and on to our first stop being the Auckland Fish Markets for some Snapper, then to foodtown for the eye fillets then raced on over to my mate's house to sit back and enjoy.... BATHURST.
Maks, as usual had a great time with Yoni and the cats, didn't even need to bring out the computer either. We all had a great time, even maks sat back and pretended to drive a car around the bathurst track as we'd tell her ok your going thru the cutting now so you have a series of left and right corners, ok here's the dipper, alright now its a hard left around forest elbow, now hit the gas for the straight.
It was a complete laugh.
With time going on and 60 laps to go, I thought I'd get maks back to Donne before it gets to late and make it back in time to watch the race finish.... I still don't have the heart to tell maks we (Holden) lost.

Can't wait to spend time with her again, now that the weather has cleared up we're able to do what we've wanted to do all winter and GET OUTSIDE.

Baby Johnson

2008-10-14T16:27:00.002+13:00

The last week or so has been a mind blowing crazy mad time but it was all put to rest when finally I got some great news. My best mate Simon and his wife Yoni contacted me an hour or so ago to announce that she is 4 weeks pregnant.

BIG CONGRAT'S GUYS

When Maks and I were over to watch Bathurst she was noticable tired and her period was well overdue so I went home with fingers crossed. When I saw their name pop up on my phone I just knew what it was about and am just so thrilled for them both.
In speaking with Simon if could see his grin in my mind and knew that when I asked him "you can't stop smiling can you!!."

The two are wrapped and excited so will definately be rushing over to their house to celebrate tonight.

New Zealand Political Debate

2008-10-02T21:54:00.002+13:00

Clark and Key are trying to turn the NZ elections into an Americanised copycat election by cutting out other candidates such as the Greens and ACT. Just because they are the largest government bodies and it would be either of the two they figure they can rule out the other 5 parties.

By taking this path I see why they wish to take this avenue however our government body is not created in a two-way street under Republican or Democrat parties. They only thing they share is Labours colour being red as is for the Republicans and Nationals colour which is blue like the Democrates but thats where it ends and sorry Mr. Keys but you cannot consider yourself to be Like Barrack Obama.

Personal Opinion: not in favour of

Running Mate Debate - countdown

2008-10-02T21:28:00.003+13:00

Shortly the follow up debate to McCain and Obama shall commence between Palin and Biden.

Biden whos experience far outweights that of Palin can often come across as bit of a rambler, short and direct but now he is up against Palin a relative newcomer but not one to be counted out as she completely ruled during her Governor debates so can definately hold her own against the experienced.

The challenge for Biden I see to be a difficult road due to the fact that to sell and support Obama whilst at the same time crushing Palin, but heres the trick, he has to do it with a subtle nature as not to loose out on the female votes for the Democrates. Here's where Palin may gain some ground and if smart can work that to her advantage if she corners Biden whom is often an agressive debater coming out with guns blazing.

I have watched the debate between the presidential candidates and have to admit that I felt that McCain made some very valid points that got me thinking however was unable to sell me on the whole idea. Obama during the first 20 mins started to say "I agree with Senator McCain..." before adding his jibe to the mix. I felt that both talked on valid issues but at times strayed and avoided specifics so once the debate was concluded I found myself scratching my head and thinking, maybe I should watch this again and see if there's more I can grb from it. But instead found listening to Canadian comedian Russell Peters more entertaining.

To follow the American Presidential Elections coming from a small tiny country (New Zealand) so far away from basically, well alot of things. Its important to understand whats happening in America as what often happens there will eventually filter out to the world. Sometime subtle and sometimes faster than we can blink an eye so the outcome of whom steps into the oval office in January will have a controlling affect on the world.

Monday funny

2008-09-29T12:17:00.001+13:00

Aparantly this photo has done the rounds on the email but I hear that it was featured on the news also. I'm guessing they'll be up for some legal battles in future =) but hey its a good laugh

Succesful Streak Comes to an End

2008-09-29T09:33:00.003+13:00

Over the last 4-5 years I have been sucessful in predicting the sex of a baby over a streak of 19 correct guesses. People have often asked how I do it but honestly its just a feeling and unfortunately my record now has to stand at 19. My good friend Kylie had a healthy boy where my guess is that it would be a girl based more on statistics than my gut feeling which I clearly should have run with.

The first in the series was my niece Danika where as soon as Karyn decided on a name I instictively told her not to even bother with boys names as there just wants any other choice. Same with Makayla, I knew she was a girl from the get go and couldnt be happier.

Being a parent is hard but rewarding, so congrats to the parents of the 19 correct guesses and the 1 incorrect one =)

International Credit Crunch

2008-09-29T08:21:00.000+13:00

Last week, ANZ bank put out a notice for staff wishing to take voluntary redundancy, and now I hear that at least one recruitment company is also making cut backs in regards to staffing numbers with more to follow I should expect. As previously noted in a posted blog not too long ago, that each day almost you read about more property developments going under in the NZ heralds property or business sections. I was milling this over whilst walking to work this morning thinking on the other factors of employment statistics where builders, construction workers and other trades would suffer reduced work/income due to these property developers crashing and burning. The way I see it is that the effects are only subtle at this stage but remain constant and believe bigger affects could be on the horizon so as a worsecase scenario if we can protect ourselves against that we should be sitting well.

The seriousness of the global economy is now at high risk, especially for those in and around realty, banking and car sales. Car sales has taken a huge hit dropping by 30% in annual returns and less and less prestige cars are going on the roads than ever with the avereage NZdr opting to down size their cars and in some instances go for older & smaller cars than what they already own.

If we recall the affects of the Great Depression, there was always money floating around, it just simply went into fewer pockets and we are starting to see similar affects now. This may only be the beginning but economists always knew that it would happen again it was just a matter of when. So its important to align ourselves in put in place strategies that will protect yourselves and family. We all want a better future so its time to review a structured plan and get moving today.

Maks update Saturday 27th 2008

2008-09-28T21:21:00.003+13:00

Today I woke up early as had to run into work for a few hours to see if I could make a few more deals as running tight on my monthly targets. Once home i picked maks up from my sisters house and we went to spend a lovely day with friends Lana, Steve and their 1 year old Jade.

We arrived to find Jade enjoying a little snack meal and making a right mess of it too. Ah yes I remember those days which seem like a lifetime ago but was only 2 years ago that I was in the same situation. We jumped into the one car and drove out to devonport where the kids had fun in the park shown in the photos placed here, here and there. We spent maybe 15 or 30 mins in the park on swings, slides, see-saws and blowing bubbles before we jumped back in the car heading back to lana's stopping off to pick up some food on the way. We met Steve there as he'd spent the morning helping his boss move house so we just chilled out with the kids having fun. Lana turned on the Wii game and i attempted to teach Maks how to bowl which wasnt all that succesful but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

Time was creaping on so I piled maks into the car and told her that she could take a nap so I could make a quick stop off at the auckland fish market and get us some dinner. Once home I cradled her up in my arms putting her down in her bed to sleep. I cleaned up the place a little before I got tired and turned the tv on but it was already set on the kids program and maks hearing the familiar sounds to one of her favourite programs quickly rose from her slumber and ran out into the lounge saying "my program" all before I had time to settle down in relax mode and change the channel. DANGIT, now i was stuck with her channel so I let it run as she jumped up on the couch next to me and took the remote off me.

When the evening finally set it I started about her dinner as she sat back watching Barbie the Island Princess, AGAIN, only cos she enjoys it so much and now likes to sing along to the songs. I cooked up the fish which she ate infront of her barbie movie as I watched the sports channel with no sound and finished my dinner. Once i'd let our meals rest I drew her bath and gave her a good scrub down and washed her hair which is about the time that simon showed up ready to watch the Warriors game. It was now about 08.30pm as I sat maks infront of me drying her hair then tied it back out of her face as we all sat back watching episode 5 of The Long Way Down which maks enjoyed for part of before climbing up over me and rested her head down on my shoulder snuggling down and was fast asleep about 5 mins later. i held her there keeping each other warm until the rugby came on which is when I tucked her into bed giving her a kiss on her forehead before sitting back to watch the Warriors suffer a humiliating defeat kissing their hopes of making the grand finale goodbye.
The game was that bad that it was easy for me to pop up out of my seat to check on maks to make sure she hadn't kicked her blankets off during her slumber. It actually came to the point that we changed channels all before the game finished as we couldn't bear it any longer.

Maks had a great sleep and was ready for sunday...

SUNDAY
About 11am I dressed her in one of her favourite dresses and we jumped in the car and met up with Simon and Yoni at the Takapuna markets walking around seeing what was on offer but there wasn't much time left as several stores were already packing up but they did buy a few items. Afterwards we walked through the mall where I bought maks a lovely hot chocolate as I enjoyed my latte. Afterwards we all took a walk around the mall after I let maks take a ride on Thomas the Tank engine. Each store we entered (or didnt) shed run rampant backwards and forwards here there and everywhere. Once in the car I thought that after running around so much shed want a nap but she didn't even after we got home so at about 2pm I took her for a walk down the road. We walked down around the Ferry building and then across and around the viaduct looking at all the boats which her mind racing away asking questions about different boats. About halway home I picked her up and she snuggled her head down on my shoulder and went to sleep, YAY, so once in the door I placed her down for a good nap. When she woke up her aunty kaz was visiting with Danika but she still ran around to me sitting on the couch and threw her arms around me not caring about the guitar i was holding and the fact she gave me no time to put it down.
She and Danika enjoyed watching the Island Princess again in more of a singalong mode as they didnt care much for the movie just wanted me to play the songs.

They both enjoyed that for a time before I changed her clothes and got her ready to go back to Donne's. She hugged and kissed everyone goodbye then skipped her way out the door. Thats my weekend with my Princess, seems like forever in between the times we see each other but once together its like nothings changed.