Christchurch February 2013

All of the photos are from Mark & Necia Billinghurst's reception at the Pallet Pavillion.

I think this is the latest I have EVER done OPL. It has been quite a few weeks. It is bizarre that I think I am busier now that I am self-employed than when I was working for “the man”!

One morning I decided to give Zumba a go, as I know a lot of people really enjoy it. What was I thinking? I like to relax my brain when I am exercising, which is why I like to run. I once tried step class, and that was a really bad idea too. It was so stressful with really loud music, and a woman yelling at us what to do, and just when I’d work out the move they would change to something else. I felt I was letting the side down, as I never did what the others did. By the end I was so wound up I decided to go for a run to relax. On the way down the drive I changed my mind and carried all the remaining firewood to the back of the garage instead. Our wheelbarrow manages to do about one trip between tyre repairs, so I carried all the wood in a recycling bin. I kept thinking of Mark’s happy surprise at having the driveway clear, and the great effect all the carrying would be having on my abs. Mark was thrilled – and a little dismayed at how little time it took – under an hour. That wood had clogged up our drive for several weeks while gradually being moved to the wood shed. I will not be doing Zumba again unless I have another lapse of judgment and memory.

We had our annual stake picnic at the Groynes, which was as enjoyable as ever. The format is identical each year, and that means people can trust they will have a nice time. As we were having a drought, the weather was lovely. Necia Billinghurst came with us as Mark was away and she wanted to meet people. I really like Necia. I think Mark went to school with TC, and is a big name in virtual reality. At present he and Necia are in California and he is working at Google on their new project, Google Glass. Mark and Necia just got married in December last year, and it is so nice to see them so happy. 

I bought an iPad mini for the business, but I am a total convert. As I tweeted on Twitter one day, my iPhone was puppy love and my iPad was a fling. But my iPad mini is my soulmate. So light, so easy to use, so quick!

I discovered a virus on my Dell computer. Actually we never did find the virus, but rather we found that the computer was uploading large amounts constantly and using up our internet allocation. I had to untether it from the wireless, and eventually we reformatted the hard drive. While it was out of commission I used my old Acer, which nearly sent me nuts, as it overheats all the time. In the end I had a fan blowing on it so it could stay up long enough to download and install some software.  It’s nice to have the Dell back and all clean again.

People ask if I am enjoying my calling, and the answer is that I love it. I feel as if it were made for me.  We had branch conference in Timaru, which is 160 km south of Christchurch. Mark and I went down on the Saturday to do visits, as did the Stake Presidency. We all had dinner out and stayed in a motel ready for the meetings the next day. I got to speak, though it was reduced from ten minutes to five. I love speaking. It was a great weekend away for Mark and me. On the way down we went the back way, which has wonderful scenery.  I’ve worked out a way for me not to get carsick. We take turns at driving for 30 minutes each. Mark doesn’t much like it, but I feel so much better as a result and it stops the trip being an ordeal. We stopped in Geraldine of course for their outrageous baked goods.

Jonathan starts at CPIT Jazz School

The most exciting part of February, though, was Jonathan starting at Jazz School. Disability Support has employed a lovely young woman, about Jonathan’s age who is a graduate of the Jazz School. She accompanies him to most of his classes. We’ve independently arranged for her to transport him as well, which is great. For the first two weeks though, I was at most of his classes, and I continue to go to his piano lesson and help him with his practice. He has had to learn scales and shell voicing and all sorts of things like Mixolydian and Ligons and stuff I have never heard of before. Fortunately he really loves it and is doing great. He has four hours a week with his ensemble, consisting of him on the piano, Rory on bass, Jay on drums, Lois the vocalist, Ben the guitar and Natalya the saxophone. They sound great to me! We have moved the piano back into the living room as it is getting much more use now. We have backing tracks on an iPhone app called iRealB, and Jonathan plays along to them and I dance. I am so glad that he is doing Jazz, as each time he plays it is different. My favourite to dance to is Blue Bossa. And because he is blind he doesn’t mind my dancing. Not quite so tolerant of singing though.

At the opening lecture I was really glad that the venue was dimly lit. The director commented on how, for some of them, this was the culmination of many years of working and hoping. I got a bit weepy then, thinking of what a great achievement and opportunity it is for Jonathan to be there. 

I’ve written a couple of times on the Never Ordinary blog, which you might find interesting. 

Mark is working many more hours, which is helping our financial situation but not his sanity. We just keep working and praying that the business will take off.

I don’t know if I mentioned that our bikes were stolen before Christmas. We finally got the insurance money through and that paid for one bike, and we bought another one. We both love our new bikes.

We had a “Helping Hands” day, and as Stake leaders we had to set a good example of course. I quite enjoyed cleaning off graffiti, pulling weeds and picking up rubbish. I got to chat with some of the younger sisters too, whom I get on well with.

Our mission had a special day of “invite your friends to sacrament meeting”. My mother came, and Jonathan invited Charlotte, his new helper at CPIT. And she came! I gave a talk on the Restoration, which I did from a personal viewpoint, with flashbacks.

Jessica is feeling less sick, but very tired, and rather homesick, so we are helping her to have a trip back home for a few weeks. She is pretty excited about that. It was Necia’s idea.

And that is February! At last! Sorry to be so late.

Lotsa love, Nicola, Mark, Jonathan, William, Jessica and bun.