Christchurch Pettys in November 2013

When we were doing our Family presentation at the Melbourne conference in August last year, there was a woman there from Christchurch, who asked that we do the same in Christchurch, which we did in early November. It was pretty much the same except Jonathan played some different pieces, and William was there in person. It went down really well, and it was lovely that quite a few people we know were there and enjoyed it a lot. Nanako was impressed at how Jonathan’s playing has improved over the year. We were so proud of him. It was held at the Elmwood School auditorium, where the boys and I went to Primary school.

I joined a Facebook “event” to throw out clutter and managed to get rid of a bit before I lost steam and got too busy.

Mark and I went to see “Gravity” at the movies in 3D. Mark really liked it, but I didn’t. I’ve never liked submarine movies, and this was similar, but in space. It was far too unrelentingly tense for me. And it definitely stretched credibility (spoiler alert) that any female astronaut would let George Clooney go.

Nicola got quite creative with her structure for supporting the snowpea plants.

We did a visit to Ashburton, and I did a training session with the RS Presidency. They are a lovely ward, full of Samoans and Tongans. Bishop Pongia is a remarkable man, and the ward members love him. It is very exciting that they are having a chapel built in the next two years. Just now they meet in an old newspaper office or bank which has been turned into a chapel.

After Nan did a great job of starting my garden for the summer I put in about thirty minutes a day and have managed to keep the weeds down. I finally planted courgettes, spinach, snow peas, lettuce, tomatoes, Vietnamese mint, parsley, basil, capsicums, cucumber, carrots and coloured swiss chard.

T.C. was in town for a couple of days so he came over for dinner with us and the missionaries, except he and Mark arrived about the time the missionaries were leaving. Then Alan and Ruth Grey and the boys came over for the evening. It was great spending time with him.

Jonathan had some end-of-the-year concerts, and performed beautifully as usual. He really enjoyed “Latin Band”.

William didn’t get into the CPIT course he wanted to do, probably because he had already done something pretty similar to it at Yoobee. So now he has to decide what to do next.

We discovered a nice series about missionaries, called “The District”, on YouTube. You can see the first programme here:



We have been watching it for Family Home Evening. I find it refreshing.

I wrote a blog post about Deal or No Deal, that you might find interesting: http://learnandteachstatistics.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/analysis-of-deal-or-no-deal-results/



The second half of November was very busy for me. On Wednesday the 20th I flew to New Plymouth and gave a morning Professional Development for maths teachers. I had a little look around New Plymouth, then headed off to Hawera to stay the night in a very nice motel. I went for a run the next morning, and pretty much circled the town, it felt like. I visited Hawera High School to tell them about our materials, then drove to Palmerston North. On the way I stopped in Wanganui and did “cold calls” on several schools, with good results. I stayed the night in Palmerston North, and went to P.N. Boys High School where I did another half day PD – or rather the same one again, but a bit slower as there were more people there. It is nice that quite a few of the teachers use my videos already, so they have some idea who I am.

I flew home on Friday afternoon, and did some errands on Saturday. On Sunday I did a couple of ward visits, and packed for my next trip away. On this trip and on the previous one, the weight of my suitcase was within 300g of the limit. On Monday morning I flew direct to Hamilton, and picked up the rental car at the airport. I really love our GPS – TomTom. I would be lost without it. A lot! I visited Hillcrest High and went to a conference in Operations Research and Statistics. I stayed at Bryant Hall at the university, which is pretty primitive but adequate. I was fortunate to have a warden’s room, which is slightly less primitive. It still had only one electric socket, which is pretty inadequate these days.

A multi-purpose photo showing that the structure is indeed supporting the
snowpea plants, and that Nan's weeding of the garden was not in vain.

I had to get up early on Tuesday morning to be in Auckland by about 8:15am. Fortunately I allowed more time that the Tomtom suggested. I had feared I might miss an exit. At the speed I was travelling (about 5km/hr) the fear was unfounded. Way too much traffic! I like the 1B route, that goes around the east side of Hamilton. Because we haven’t updated the map lately, at times it looks as if I am driving across paddocks. In Auckland I was part of “statistics day”, put on by the University of Auckland. I did a workshop on probability – twice, to a total of 80 teachers.

Then I drove back to Hamilton and went to the conference dinner – which was truly superb. The best roast pork EVA! And many other very yummy dishes. I love buffets.

The next morning I gave my presentation at the conference, and went to some other sessions. Then visited Hamilton Girls’ High. I didn’t feel like visiting any more schools, but as I approached Cambridge I felt impressed to visit two schools there. I’m very glad I did, as I got one of my best sales at one of them. That alone would have paid for my whole trip, and probably the previous one as well. I drove on to Putaruru, or the Centre of the Universe, as it is referred to on my Tomtom. Rosemary prepared a lovely dinner, and I tried to do some work in the evening.

Rosemary and I were keen to see the new Temple movie, so we drove up to Hamilton the next morning. I did some school visits first. We had dinner in Cambridge at a pub.

Then on Friday I drove through to Rotorua to the BoPMA (Bay of Plenty Mathematics Association) conference. It was a blast. I really like the atmosphere at that conference. I made a few sales as well – including one at Reporoa! I was a bit nervous about the flight, as I had to land and take off on Wellington, and strong Norwesterlies were forecast. Apart from a couple of jolts in the Rotorua – Wellington leg, it was okay though, and I had a very nice young man to talk to (whom I had taught at uni in 1999 – or thereabouts). He told me about an exercise he had done in a workshop where people were asked to tell something they were proud of. I think that is a great conversation opener, and I’m trying to use it.

The Boysenberry plant has produced really well this season.
I should've taken the photo before the first harvest!

I got home quite late on Friday, had something to eat, and went to bed. The next day I tried to follow up on all the schools I had contacted, then in the afternoon, Mark and I went down to Timaru for my third sales trip. We had a superb dinner at a Japanese restaurant. You will have to wait for next month to hear about the trip south.

Jonathan has finished his school year, but hasn’t got his grades yet. A woman came up to him at a concert and thanked him and us. Jonathan’s successful participation at Jazz School had contributed to their willingness to accept another person with autism. Jonathan has had a great year.

Jessica and William and Seth seem to be enjoying their life together. William has paid employment, but I will tell more next month.

Happy Christmas to all

Nicola, Mark, Jonathan, Jessica, Seth and William. (William realises he is now at the bottom of the pecking order in both families, so in honour of that I have listed him last.)