Gail Dickson .. my blog from Down Under

Well it’s done … I no longer work for VF. After 3 years, 2 months I have left the first company I joined since coming to New Zealand. Was working right up till home time and then went off to the “local” for my leaving drinks.

I will admit to shedding a few tears … will really miss working with the online team, they are a great bunch of guys and we’ve been through some tough (ie extremely busy) times together. They made the effort to get a lovely bunch of flowers and a card on my desk for me coming in on Friday morning (I get in around 7am, they tend to be nearer 9am) which was lovely.

As per previous post … I’ve got a week off next week so looking forward to the rest before starting again.

And if my dad is reading this anytime soon …. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

As the post name suggests .. this is just a quick update to tell you about my change of plans!

As you all know, I’m working my notice at VF … well actually, it’s my last day tomorrow!! And I mentioned that I’d got a new job in a small consultancy in the CBD … hmmm, that’s kinda changed as of yesterday. I’d applied for another job on the Shore with a large insurance company back in May … hadn’t heard anything so assumed that I hadn’t got through the first stage … then just after I’d signed the contract with consultancy, they called me to go for an interview. I guess the Shore bit is the reason I went but when I got there and met the people, saw the building etc I realised it would be a really good move as well as being so close to home. A couple of interviews later and I was offered the job.

It was still a really hard thing to do though as when I commit to something I normally always do it! Spoken like a true project manager ;o) Anyhoo, had to tell the consultancy I’d changed my mind which was really hard as they were a really great team and would have been good to work for too.

So what does it really mean?

• The working hours are half an hour less a day
• The commute is 15 to 20 mins max whereas at the moment it’s only that long if I leave at 6am. Leaving anytime after that means at least an hour.
• No motorway … and no bridge!
• But most importantly … I’ll get to see Kyle and Regan every morning which I don’t do very often at the moment (only when I’m running late!).

Really looking forward to my week off .. have a few trips planned for lunch, gym, shopping and some meetings with the homeless charity. Rest of the time will be spent sorting out the house!

I am now working my notice at VF… one week to go till I leave and my boss has only just found my replacement so I’m guessing my last week is going to be busy! To combat that, I’ve got lots of lunches planned so it won’t seem so bad. Having some drinks on the Friday night at the Viaduct to say goodbye to all the friends I’ve made while I’ve been there.

Then I’ve got a week off before starting my new job. Going to spend some time in the house as we never seem to have enough time to get everything done so the aim is to finish lots of stuff off … will see how that goes! ;o) I’m going to try and keep doing the voluntary work with the homeless charity as I’m really enjoying it so have scheduled some meetings with them over my time off too. Will post the website for the fundraising event (the Big Sleepout) once it’s up and running … working with the media people now to finalise content etc.

It’s also going to be my last week with Shel … I will really miss her and my sessions. I never imagined that working so hard that it hurt (a lot!) could be so much fun. I’m going to have to find something else to replace it … though we do have the new treadmill for the time being. Going to have a look about for yoga/pilates/boxing classes near home.

The school holidays are over again! Kyle went to holiday club for the majority of the time – except the middle weekend when we all went to Ruapehu so he could see the snow. I’d been concerned ever since I agreed to go that I was going to be really grumpy the whole time I was there … as I REALLY don’t like the cold or the snow! However, although I was a little bit grumpy the first night when we got there and I was freezing … it got better. On the Saturday, we went up the mountain with sledges and the kids absolutely loved it. People had often told me that when skiing it was actually quite warm (didn’t believe them) and they are right. I wasn’t cold at all while we were sledging so it was actually quite fun! Regan decided that she wasn’t walking anywhere so I spent the whole time pulling her around on her sledge! :o) And I have to say it’s awesome to think we were sledging on an active volcano!!

On the way back up the road, we popped into Waitomo and went to see the glow worm cave. To be honest, it was all a bit too commercialised for me as you were guided through the cave and couldn’t really wander about yourself … however, some of the rock formations were really good and the sight of the glow worms once you get in the boat was amazing! Kyle loves David Attenborough DVDs and he has one of him going down the same cave … so he was even more excited at the prospect that David Attenborough had been in the same cave looking at the glow worms!

Last day of the holiday was spent back in Auckland so we headed off to Crystal Mountain on the Monday which is a kind of a theme park (kiwi style!). Regan was in a weird old mood and all the animals and birds were scaring her … Not many photos of her because of that. Kyle enjoyed it though .. he was on the rollercoaster, the bungy trampoline thing etc etc.

This weekend, Kyle had a sleepover birthday party at Righard’s. He’s had a bit of a cold recently but seemed okay … but overnight he got much worse so Sunday morning, we got a bit of a mess home! He’s been on the couch all day since …

Regan’s preschool class has an award where if they are good all week then they get to take a soft toy named Bumble home for the weekend (they also get a little gift) and then have to do a photo diary of what Bumble has been up to over the weekend (I’ve uploaded the photos to Flickr incase you wonder what they are all about!). Due to Kyle being ill, we ended up not doing too much unfortunately but managed enough for the diary.

In a couple of weeks time, Kyle and Bobby are off to Kea camp overnight so the girls have a weekend of fun planned! One of Regan’s friends at preschool is 4 that weekend so we’re off to Charlotte’s party on the Saturday followed by a girl’s night in. Then we’re off to see Leanne & Millan on the Sunday morning before the boys get back.

Kyle is really enjoying Keas and is starting to work out which badges he wants to do first. He’s even started being extra helpful .. setting table etc … I knew there was a good reason to send him to Keas! ;o)