California 2014

I miss you all already.

Catching up

It has been much too long since I've last posted.  

Recently Guy and I had a whirlwind trip to California where we got to hug many people.  Several days in San Francisco filled with bars, hangovers, parks, Russian bathhouses, burritos and terrible street parking.  Then it was off to LA for a day at Disneyland and a day at California's Adventure.  But that wasn't all, we also had a mini performance by Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting (my favorite sketch group, look them up), brunch, a nice dinner with friends, and lots of hugs.  After that, we kept driving South to Encinitas.  Guy met my family at a Pattison Pizza Party, slept in my childhood room, and saw the iconic Moonlight Beach sunset.  Encinitas was filled with reminiscing with family, mostly my sister late one night, burritos, hugs, tears, and a wee sleep it.  But you think we stopped there?  Nope.  We also had a Sunday brunch hosted by Amanda and a wedding to attend for Alex & Alex.  

I can't believe how much we fit in to 10 days.  I know I didn't spend enough time with people and that hurts my heart.  If I could I would have a week with everybody to catch up but I guess that is not in the cards for me just yet.  

After our crazy quick trip, I got a new job!  I am now working as an administrator to an artsy college here in Christchurch.  It is a small office and I came in the week of graduation.  Needless to say, I was thrown into the thick of it real quick.  My new colleagues are super nice, even as I am still learning their names and faces, but it is very different to work with young adults in an educational setting as opposed to little kids.  I still miss the joy that children have when they lose a tooth.  

I get to walk into work everyday alongside the park, I often see friends I know on their way to work which always reminds me what a small place Christchurch is.  I get to witness roadworks going up and coming down several weeks later as the city is rebuild one small section at a time.  Summer is definitely here with sunrises at 5:30am and sunsets at 9:15pm.  Recently temperatures were in the high 20's/low 30's and we went to the beach!  I am now golden tanned.  A tan I have not had since I was 16, well not since San Francisco came into my life. 

Guy is still plugging along at his job.  No news there but maybe in the near future there may be some developments.  But I'll write about that when a decision has been made.

Ness has had her own set of ups and downs.  We believe a neighbourhood cat got into the house, when the back door was left open, and sprayed at least three times in the hallway WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING.  The smell has been throwing off Ness and she became super agitated at daily life, re-spraying over the outdoor cat's marks, being very un-Ness.  After lots of worrying her humans bought Feliway and Ness is getting better.  Who knew that a synthetic cat pheromone could work so well!  Unfortunately she is still spraying, I'm still cleaning carpets but after an expensive trip to the vet (where Ness got her first xray) we have antibiotics and other inflammatory medicines.  Hopefully she'll beat this nasty UTI but so far, half way into treatment, she is less chatty and with an increase of lap cuddles.  Ness is even starting to have hair re-grow on her catfolds and has lost a bit of weight!  She is a new agile cat, may it continue to be a good and happy thing with no more urine soaked carpet.

Other than this, we still are in our crappy little flat and Guy has promised me we will move in February.  Rent prices will hopefully be coming down soon and we can find a cute place that is still within walking distance to work.  

A year

Two years and a week ago I was attending my 10 year high school reunion and feeling a bit lost.

KW, KH, AP: SDA 2002

Two years ago I was in Spain, first by myself, then with strangers on a tour bus, then with close friends. Who would have thought that two years down the line my whole life would be different?

Two years ago I met a man who improves me in almost every way possible. Two years ago I started the longest relationship in my life.

One year ago I moved across the world to live in a country I had never visited before. One year ago I took a chance and put my faith into the unknown.

So what is a typical day in my new life like? After trying to sleep in as much as possible after Guy has left, I hop on my bike and go to work. Recently it has been cold. Like super cold. Like holy cow I have never dealt with constant coldness like this before. But I am trying to be a trooper and not let it get to me. My biggest rule of thumb is that I will not bike to work unless it is at least 1° C (33° – 34° F). I rug up as much as possible with gloves, scarves, beanies and a jacket. My biggest saving grace is that bike warms up my soul and I don’t feel the numbing effects of the wind, as much.

Then it is off to work. I had a month off of bumming around Christchurch when I first got here but then I got a full time job at an Insurance Company. I was told from the recruitment company I’d only be here for three months which is why I agreed to it. Because... insurance, c’mon. But I have been here for 11 months. I have learned heaps and consider myself partially a hero in helping people rebuild and repair their homes from the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 and 2012. After 8 hours of moving spreadsheets around and talking to strangers on the phone I bike home (only 70% of the time is it raining).

Then I pet Ness. Think about dinner and wait for Guy to get home. Then it’s the gym, a home-cooked meal, an episode of our current TV show (Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, True Blood, House of Cards, etc), a shower and bed. Nothing else too exciting but I am starting to love my rut.

Sleeping in a sunbeam

Only a few things could improve my rut, number one being friends. I do have a few close people I can count on here in Christchurch but not nearly the same friend and family support group I had back home. The hardest part about making new friends is that a deep dark part of you feels like you’d be forgetting the old friends. I often think about those back home. More often than I’d like to admit. I think about old friends’ faces, laughs, habits, clothes, drinks of choice, their significant others, their pets. And I miss it all. Sometimes these beloved friends message me and I get so sad about how much I miss them I don’t respond right away. Then I feel I am ignoring them and that makes me so sad. It is a vicious sad-cycle I have put myself in. The time difference doesn’t help either. I find myself pushing away those I love so much because it hurts to have them so far away. Does this happen to all 30 year olds? Life is hard when you have so much love in your heart and no outlet besides a select few. I’m sure Ness is being cuddled more than ever here in NZ.



But don’t get me wrong, this past year has taught me so much about myself and what I can do and what I love. I can bake and cook awesomely. Some primo dinners I can whip up are tacos, spaghetti sauce, cottage pie, fried rice, all from scratch. Same goes for my baked goods: apple pie, gluten free banana cookies, lemon poppy cake, moist chocolate cake/cupcakes. I’m a pro at this. My co-workers get to try most of my creations and I brag to say that my baked goods are the first to be gobbled up during shared morning tea. I also am getting better at going to the gym! Guy is a huge support in that, encouraging me to go even if all I want to do is curl up and cry or eat an entire bag of chips. Likewise I drag his bum to the gym with me, especially if he has had a bad day at work. I also have come to realize how much natural beauty there is in the world and how special it can be. New Zealand is chock full of beautiful scenery, almost so much that you can start to take it for granted. Oh that? An amazing valley with a stream surrounded by tall mountains capped in snow? Eh. Sheer cliff walls meeting the ocean in a chaotic frenzy? Whatevs. Wide open skies filled with fluffy clouds, strong shades of blue with a horizon of dark rain clouds threatening to keep you indoors that evening while you snuggle up and watch a movie? It happens. The nature here is outstanding. I want to share this special place with everybody, so come see me. It is just too bad that it is so damn expensive to get here from basically anywhere.

Oh and the wine. Have I talked about the wine here? I like the local wine more than I like the local beer here. Never thought I’d say that but it is true. At social events I’ll still go towards beer but more often than not I am grabbing for a glass of Sav after a long week. Wine, whine, wine. All in a typical week.

Oh and kiwifruit. It is not that big of a deal in the states but here it can be so very cheap. Sometimes $1/kilo! (Use google conversions to help you realize what a deal that is) Almost every day I have half a cup of oatmeal with a chopped up kiwifruit in it. This is probably one highlight to my day. The fruit gets all warm and is perfectly tart and sweet. Go to your local grocery store and buy a couple. They are magical. I want a kiwi fruit tree. And a lime tree.  Lime prices are out of control.

I feel the happiest and healthiest I have ever been in my day-to-day life and I owe a lot of that to my most favourite guy, Guy. Moving across the world to be with him was the right thing to do and I am grateful that I went for the risk. I am grateful that my family and friends, even though it was hard to let me go, encouraged me to follow my heart. I am where I need to be.

And now, this chapter of my life can be officially entitled “New Zealand.” I don’t know what the next chapter will be but I know that I am glad that I started it. I’ll try to update more often but no promises. I miss you all already. I will be in California from September 25th – October 5th. I want to hug you so let’s meet up.

The Pattison's and Guy

Ann & Guy's Southern Road Trip VIDEO!

December 2013 - January 2014

A thought smattering

It is high time I post.  So here is a smattering of thoughts I complied for you.

Thought 1:

It still sends my head spinning to remember I am the one with an accent.  Every now and then when Guy and I are at the grocery store shopping I see people looking over their shoulders to me, and I realize I am the foreigner.  I am the thing that doesn’t belong when you play the game “One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other.”  I have talked to Guy so much over the last year I don’t even notice his accent anymore, unless he says some silly phrase that makes no sense to my American mind. Which takes me into my next thought,

Thought 2:

My co-workers, two kiwi and one UK, had never heard of the word “Ta-Ta’s” to describe boobs.   Is it me?  Am I the odd one out?  I have just thought that calling boobs ta-ta’s is a fun childish way of talking about what is on chest of so many of us. 

Thought 3:

There is no ground turkey here.  Well if it is here, I have not found it yet.  The other day I suggested to Guy that we used ground turkey meat in our spaghetti sauce instead of beef mince for a healthier option.  He looked dumbfounded.  So when I went searching for it at the store I came up empty handed.  My theory is that were Americans have a Turkey section in the meat department and New Zealanders have a Lamb section.  Yes, America may have lamb section as well but I can guarantee it is not as big as the one here. 

Thought 4:

Kiwi fruit is great!  I love my gold kiwis.  They are sweeter than the green kiwi everybody knows back in the States.  The outsides of the fruit aren’t weird fuzzy and you can eat the whole thing whole if you like!  The skin doesn’t fuss up my tummy too much.  At the supermarket when you buy pre-packaged boxes of kiwifruit they include a kiwi spoon/knife!  One end is a knife to slice the fruit in half and the other end is a spoon to eat your fruit.  I have never seen anything like it.  The perfect tool for the job.  Especially if that job is to munch on five fruits in a row.  I am not ashamed to say that I have been hoarding the spoon/knifes, I use them to eat my yogurt, and get sad when one breaks in half. 

Thought 5:

Wind.  Everything is about wind when it comes to weather.  Everyone comments about the wind.  Which wind it is and where it is coming from and where it is going.  Some of the weather predictions that crop up on my forecasts:  Northeasterlies, Southeasterly breezes, the Nor'West, ESE high winds, Easterly winds, Rain.  That’s basically everything.  And with each of those various types of wind the common New Zealander know exactly what kind of weather to expect.  But I am not at the point yet!  The weather is wacky.  One day we will have dry warm sun which we hang the wash out to dry, open all the windows looking for a breeze, drink ice water to cool down.  18 hours later I am wiping rain off my glasses as I bike to work in my cute skirt and heels.  Then at the end of the work day the bright blue sky is out and I am needing my reserve scarf and gloves I keep in my bag to warm up my numb fingers.  Ugh.  At least you get to wear that cute raincoat almost all year-round. 

Thought 6:

Roll-on deodorant.  It is basically your only choice here.  There are a few options for stick deodorant but those are the cheap brands with terrible smells.  I finally gave in a bought a roll-on.  With summer approaching it is the best choice for everybody.

Thought 7:

This is unrelated to my move to NZ, but, I just became an Aunt for the first time!  What should Baby Pattison call me?  Aunt Ann?  Auntie Ann?  Auntie Annie? Aunt Annie?  Nothing seems to sound right.  Welcome to the world Alexander Carrig Pattison!

Thought 8:

Guy and I are planning a tour of the South Island for 10 days!  Ness goes into a cattery, which she’ll hate/love, we go into a campervan and have the best time ever.  I cannot wait!  I guess I need to learn to drive on the other side of the road.  I did promise Guy that.  Perhaps I will practice on empty roads somewhere out in the countryside.

Thought 9:

I have met a handful of people who type in the oddest way: they use the caps lock key to make capitol letters.  For example, if they are typing a sentence about how awesome I am, in the middle of their hunt’n’peck typing they click on the caps lock key to capitalize my name, Ann, instead of using the shift button.  Has anyone else seen this?  Is it a learned trait?  Is it a coping mechanism that somebody figured out to make capitals because they thought using two keys at once was hard?  This baffles me. 

Thought 10:

Here you can buy fireworks, four days out of the year from November 2nd to November 5th for Guy Fawkes Day.  We went up the hill to watch the fireworks that the city puts on and were happily entertained by the small bursts of light from all the houses below across the city.  I am just amazed that no large fires happened.  The downside is that people buy fireworks during that time but then keep them around for longer so you randomly hear fireworks during the November and Decembers months.  

Thought 11:

I love my boyfriend.  I love my cat.  I miss my family.  I miss my friends.  I miss my work friends.  I feel like I am in an isolated bubble with the knowledge that there is a bubble very far away whose life is going on without my bubble.  Once it was such a large bubble.  I thought it would be easy to keep in touch.  Write emails all the time.  Skype.  Send photos.  I vaguely know what is going on back in the States but my life seems to be moving so quickly here that I don’t have much time to reflect which is why this blog post has taken so long to write.  It is hard to express the feelings I have for everybody back home because if I think about them too much my heart grows sad and I feel lost.  It has been easier to keep everybody at a distance.  The time/day difference helps too.  Thankfully Guy is a great rock to my wandering sad heart, reminding me of my adventure and how brave I am to try something completely new.  My life here is blessed but even when hard times approach and pass you are once again reminded how wonderful so much of your life is. 

Thought 12:

I cut my hair off.  It feels AMAZING.

My article on Stuff.co.nz

The other day my work email was down so I spend quite a bit of time on the Stuff, which is New Zealand's biggest news wesbite.

I found a prompt entitled "The day that changed my life" so I felt compelled to submit an entry since my life had recently been changed.  Little did I know that it would be published an hour later and remain on the front page for a full 24 hours.  Here is the link to the article.  Enjoy.

The Day That Changed My Life

by Ann Pattison

The Last Installment of the Epic Story “The Cat Who Cost Too Much”

The final cat blog, I promise (maybe)

Well it has all finally happened.  Ness is here in New Zealand with me.  After spending three months at “sleep away summer camp” with a few good Tia’s.  After several vet visits and with a tearful eye, she was left with the pet transporter in her carrier ready for the biggest adventure of her life.  And the most expensive adventure too. 

Looking out the bedroom window to all her bird friends

Her flight left late on Monday and arrived in Auckland early Wednesday.  Then another flight from Auckland to Christchurch.  The same route I took three months earlier.  The night Ness was to fly into Auckland the Canterbury plains experienced some of the craziest weather ever.  It was warm outside.  Perfectly warm.  But the wind.  So much wind!  Bins (aka trashcans) were flying down the street.  I saw bikers struggle to bike against the wind.  I swear I saw the telephone pole outside our room sway in the breeze.  Needless to say I got nervous.  I didn’t know which flights Ness was on so I couldn’t track anything and I wouldn’t be picking her up from the airport since Quarantine would be whisking her directly to her cell for 10 days.

On Wednesday mid-morning I finally got the call on a fussy cell connection saying that Ness was safely in Quarantine with no delayed flights.  Somehow she managed to miss all that crazy wind by a couple of hours!  Ah the relief.  Ah the excitement of buying a lot of kitty stuff in a market I know nothing about.  It is hard to buy stuff when you have no concept of brands.  It leads to me just staring at shelves of products reading descriptions over and over.  Thankfully there is a pet store close to where I work and they got to know me pretty well.  A nice worker practically held my hand and showed me various kinds of cat food, litter boxes, litter, toys, treats, everything.  He even indulged me with letting me play with a pup labradoodle named Charlie.

Guy and I knew that we wanted to visit Ness at least once while she was in Quarantine.  I called and I called and I called trying to set up a time to come see Ness.  No answer.  No one was picking up.  Guy tried to call to set up a time.  No answer.  Oddly enough Guy was more panicked than I was.  Thankfully he and his colleagues put two and two together and realized Quarantine did not have power because of the storm.  The wind had downed a lot of trees cutting off power to many people in the countryside.  I called the cell phone number that called me when Ness arrived and lo and behold they still didn’t have power three days later but they had a generator to keep all the animals warm.  Sweet relief!

We visited Quarantine on Saturday.  Armed with a small bag of treats, a favorite toy, and a t-shirt that smelled like Guy and I, we found our kitty tucked up on a shelf in a small room that overlooked a beautiful garden area.  Ness was able to sit in sunshine (if the sun bothered to come out at all), listen to strange birds chirp, smell strange trees, and make best friends with sheep who were a stones throw away from her room.  But she chose sleep on a shelf, hidden behind a towel which was sheltering her from the scary new world around her.  She looked bedraggled and in need of a good cuddle and a good sleep.  I said hello to her and put my hand up for her to smell me.  Almost instantly she was nuzzling my hand trying to get pet all over while I was trying to hide the flood of tears welling up behind my eyes.  Guy and I sat down near her and she jumped down off her shelf to come be with us.  No lap sits but plenty of pets, scratches, and sniffing.  She was in heaven.  Her humans were back.  45 minutes passed in a blink of an eye and we had to leave.  I will never forget the look Ness gave me when we left the room.  I peered through the small window in the door to see the saddest kitty eyes seeming to cry out to me “WHY ARE YOU LEAVING ME AGAIN”??!? 

How can you say "goodbye" to these eyes?

One week later we made the long drive back to bring Ness home.   She was packed up and ready when we got there and Guy drove Ness and I (who were both in the backseat) home.  I can’t lie, it did feel a lot like how bringing home a newborn might feel.  She meowed a LOT.  I quieted her down as much as I could.  She learned how to proper meow from her summer camp cat friend Tovah and was very chatty at the fact she was in her big carrier AGAIN in a moving vehicle.  Guy and I talked about how we were going to deal with a scared cat.  We tried to guess her hiding spots and how we might lure her out of them with promises of treats and lots of petting.  I carried her carrier into the spare bedroom where her litter box, food and water were and opened the door of the carrier.  This was the big moment.  What would she do...... She sniffed things.  A Lot.  Multiple times.  Guy and I watched her walk into every room and sniff every corner while we stayed in the spare bedroom.  After about 20 minutes of sniffing Guy and I decided to give her space and let her explore in her own time so we went for a long walk.  When we came back she was curled up on our bed.  Like nothing had ever happened.  We made dinner and sat to watch the news in the lounge.  She came right on over and sat down on a chair and fell asleep.  No scared cat!  It probably helped everything in the house already smelled of us and she loves us and our smell, but after 45 minutes she was at peace with her new life.  There was a lot of sniffing and sneezing of dust that first week but she settled in just fine.  Better than I ever could have predicted.  It was like the last four to five months never happened! 

New besties

Now we are a happy little family.  Guy loves having Ness about.  Often I find her curled up on his chest in bed getting a lot of pets.  She still seems starved for affection and worries when we both get ready leave the apartment.  She has always had a high amount of concern for me while I shower, so that hasn’t changed, but she can’t wrap her head around me reading in the bathtub.  That is a huge worry for her but she respects my space and sits outside the door as my guard kitty. 

I got her a food dispenser which the cat has to move a lever inside for the food to come out.  She eats one kibble at a time.  Her food/water is in the lounge, her litter box in the spare room, and her sleeping chair is in our room which all means she has to walk a lot.  Her bare belly is losing weight and it makes me feel like a good cat Mom (I try not to think she lost weight because of high amounts of stress).  She is a happy and healthy addition to our NZ home.  I couldn’t be happier with what I have when I go home.  A boyfriend who takes great care of me and a cat who dotes on my every move.  I am one lucky girl.  The only thing we don’t talk about in our apartment is how much this whole move cost.  I could not of had her furry body keeping me company without the love and support of so many people in my life.  Some people have asked me if I knew how much the whole move would have cost to have Ness in NZ, would I still do it?  And my answer is Yes.  Of course.  She means the world to me and her loving comfort is the embodiment of the love I left back in the States.  So when she is sleeping soundly in my I think of all my family and friends who made this dream possible. 

 

Thank you for my cat.  Thank you for helping my cat get to my lap, on the other side of the world.  Guy thanks you too.  So does Ness.  Stay tuned for a family Christmas portrait.