All that sparkles is gold

Okay, I know many of you may be waiting for the exciting details of our trip to the states. Believe me, there were many exciting details, one in particular involving a floating vessel that is floating no more. However, I couldn’t wait to formulate my thoughts before announcing the most exciting event of them all. Jason and I got engaged. Yes, having stopped along a lovely mountain walk, perched on a rock by Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho, Jason pulled out a little pink box that held a circular object to fit on my left ring finger and asked me to marry him. Speechless for the first time in my life, I eventually mustered the ability (with some prompting from Jason) to answer, “Yes”. It made a perfect ending to a perfect trip. Now if only we could get immigration to coordinate with us on the timing of the wedding.

Alarming Return

In anticipation of two weeks of paperwork to wade through, I decided to go into the office early on my return (a return that occurred a day late thanks to the cancellation of our flight from Boise to San Francisco). The office staff had graciously provided me with a set of keys to accomplish just such a task, in addition to the code to turn off the alarm. However, in the two weeks of holiday mode, my brain had conveniently forgotten the code. The four numbers that made up the code were still in the memory bank, but the correct order was not. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this until I was brushing my teeth at seven in the morning. Having no office personnel’s number on hand, I thought I’d wing it, figuring that once I was in front of the keypad I’d let my fingers do the walking. Bad idea. My fingers failed me as much as my memory and I was left with a deafening siren engulfing my ears until I managed to power up the computer and look up someone’s phone number who gratefully provided the correct order of digits to silence the madness. Ironically, in the panic, the siren failed to summon any security service to check on the problem. Welcome home.

No more sleeps to go!

Excitement is in the air as we do our last minute prep to get on the transpacific plane back to the states for a short two-week holiday and introduction of the states for Jason. We’ve been anticipating this trip for so long, it’s hard to believe it’s finally here. I would like to say we’ve had some funny moments and strange experiences in the build-up, but alas, no. Just more anticipation and excitement in landing in the country after another year has passed living in the kiwiland. Much is planned with visits with friends, a wedding to participate in, and job interviews to attend. I will have much to tell in the coming weeks. Stay tuned…