24 Hours to Go!
This time tomorrow I'll be leaving NZ airspace en route to London, via Los Angeles.
My feelings are all very weird at the moment. I'm tired, anxious, excited, incredulous that I'm actually now on holiday.
In addition to packing for my trip, I've been packing up all my worldly belongings and moving them upstairs to a newly painted and carpeted room. The room I've been living in since we moved here (21 months ago) is still unpainted and uncarpeted, but that will begin to change while I'm away. Originally the plan was: move my excess junk upstairs into a storage area, remaining furniture could be moved into the middle of the room and then the roof and walls painted. Just over a week ago that plan changed to: move everything out of the room, so that painting and carpeting can take place at our leisure, with no rush to have it done before I get back.
Yeah, great - thanks for the extra stress ... ;)
Josie and Chewie Chinchilla are back from the pet shop where they have been staying for the past few weeks. The shop girls said there had been some interest, but no one ended up buying them. I wonder if they are too old for anyone to want them - Josie is nine and Chewie is at least ten, possibly older. So they are back in their big roomy outdoor cage, in which I am sure they are much happier than in the shop, and Dad is looking after them for me while I'm away.
I received a pleasant surprise yesterday at work, and one which goes to show how long it's been since I've had a decent amount of time off. I found out that even after taking 240 hours of my holiday pay for my six weeks off, I'll still have a balance of 100 hours remaining! - another two and a half weeks of pay! The upshot of this is that if I find I'm running low on cash while overseas, I can flick work and email and get them to pay me some, or all, of those 100 hours. This was a lovely little discovery because, even though I think I'll be okay, I've been a wee bit anxious about whether my cash reserves are going to be enough. And it's no fun not being able to do something while on holiday because you're worried about money.
This is the experience of a lifetime, and I want to make the most of it!
My feelings are all very weird at the moment. I'm tired, anxious, excited, incredulous that I'm actually now on holiday.
In addition to packing for my trip, I've been packing up all my worldly belongings and moving them upstairs to a newly painted and carpeted room. The room I've been living in since we moved here (21 months ago) is still unpainted and uncarpeted, but that will begin to change while I'm away. Originally the plan was: move my excess junk upstairs into a storage area, remaining furniture could be moved into the middle of the room and then the roof and walls painted. Just over a week ago that plan changed to: move everything out of the room, so that painting and carpeting can take place at our leisure, with no rush to have it done before I get back.
Yeah, great - thanks for the extra stress ... ;)
Josie and Chewie Chinchilla are back from the pet shop where they have been staying for the past few weeks. The shop girls said there had been some interest, but no one ended up buying them. I wonder if they are too old for anyone to want them - Josie is nine and Chewie is at least ten, possibly older. So they are back in their big roomy outdoor cage, in which I am sure they are much happier than in the shop, and Dad is looking after them for me while I'm away.
I received a pleasant surprise yesterday at work, and one which goes to show how long it's been since I've had a decent amount of time off. I found out that even after taking 240 hours of my holiday pay for my six weeks off, I'll still have a balance of 100 hours remaining! - another two and a half weeks of pay! The upshot of this is that if I find I'm running low on cash while overseas, I can flick work and email and get them to pay me some, or all, of those 100 hours. This was a lovely little discovery because, even though I think I'll be okay, I've been a wee bit anxious about whether my cash reserves are going to be enough. And it's no fun not being able to do something while on holiday because you're worried about money.
This is the experience of a lifetime, and I want to make the most of it!