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The Venus Factor

As another week creeps by I often forget that though this endless inertia feels like it's been going on for ages, to be fair it's only been about 5 weeks for real. (Counting from when we moved into our place.) So I should be cutting myself some slack as far as getting a job pressures are concerned.


I mean if I wanted to, I could be a police officer in Western Australia. The Y was running a beep test on Friday night and although I had never heard of it, Dustin was well aware of it. Given that we are trying to be compulsive joiners, we signed up. Only after we signed up did I find out that it meant a 20 metre shuttle run test! He had done it once back when he played rugby in school but it is used as a standard measure of fitness. Basically you just run back and forth while a pre-set beep sounds. The interval between beeps decreases so that you have to run faster incrementally. There were 4 of us running and - spurred on by the thought "I can't let my wife beat me!" - Dustin was the last one going. He got 7.8 while I clocked in at 7.1 which would have sounded weak to me before I knew what the test was like. (It apparently goes up to 21 but super athletes come in around 16 or 17.) So yes, I meet the requirements for policewomen in WA. However, I think I'll sit on that thought for a long time before I act on it.


They are running another test in 6 weeks so we can see how we improve. At least then I'll have a slightly better idea of how quickly it moves along. I certainly was puffed by the time I stopped and I think I missed the last one by a mere footstep or two.


On the joining theme again, we signed up to be dog walkers for the SPCA. Today was the first time out and after the training schpeel, we each took out a dog. I don't blame them but they sure are eager to get out. So much so that I found it difficult to control mine even though he wasn't really that big. They were all large breeds though. We're going to go again on Thursday so I think I'll give it another go before I decide if I truly am more of a cat person. (But maybe not enough of one to volunteer to clean cages out...)


Dustin, however, starts working on Monday! This will mark the first time in his twenties that he'll be trying a job/occupation that isn't what he's trained and experienced in. So hopefully he'll enjoy having a change! He ended up taking the job with the Tree Services and Vegetation Management company. He's having a medical assessment done right now as it was required by the company. Stay tuned for news of how he's liking it.


I've been to a few more training sessions for the Budget Advisory Service that I'm volunteering with and I think it's going to be a good challenge for me. I sat in on one client meeting this week and it sure was a lot more real than I think I realized. However, they do try to start you with "easiser" clients - even simply if you have someone who wants to be there and someone who is required to attend to keep receiving their benefit payments from the government, there will be a difference. So they try to give you someone who has taken the initiative to come in on their own. There's still many weeks until I'll be seeing people by myself but I'm quite excited to get the process going.


This week we've seen the rain and storms advance upon our coastal city. I even heard there was a tornado warning out on Sunday. That's something new for us! I think the only other time I've been somewhere when that occurred was Edmonton when I was about 13 years old. I don't think it's a common event but there have been tornadoes in New Plymouth (and elsewhere in NZ) before. So far it's just been bouts of heavy rain that blow away almost as soon as they arrive. (Which is a great time to sing Eurythmics songs!) You can usually see the rain clouds moving in from the water (yes we technically have an ocean view haha) and then, with ferocity, it's pouring. The rain doesn't come down halfway here. Ok, not that it does that anywhere but what I mean is that the drops are much bigger than Vancouver rain. There always seem to be pockets of sunshine though after each little rainfall. It seems like the longer showers occur overnight so far. It's a good thing Dustin already went up the mountain because over the weekend the mountain was forecast to receive up to 350mm of rain at about 25-35mm per hour! Luckily we're far enough away that we don't see that same precipitation.


All this weather talk is a good excuse to introduce you to my weatherman crush, Tamati Coffey:


The forecast is for nice eyes and dreamy sighs.

He's in New Plymouth today because they are doing New Zealand's Got Talent auditions and he's the host. I've been trying to convince Dustin for weeks that we need to get a talent sorted out but alas, we did not. I'll just have to enjoy his good humour and good looks on the TV. *sigh*

Hopefully all of you mothers had a lovely day on Sunday! In the past, I've included some friends in my mother's day wishes and this year realized that there are almost more friends now who are mothers than who are not, or they are a close balance these days. So, rather than email you personally I've copped out and decided to send wishes this way! :) Hope you got some special treatment because you deserve it! And if you didn't, my gift is pictured, as above.

While speaking to my mom on Sunday, in her efforts to keep my job-hunting spirits up, she pointed out that us Geminis are in for some good astrological news. So I popped on over to the website of the astrologer from The Province and read that from April until August, Venus is in Gemini - which doesn't happen again for another 105 years. This must be good! And it says that makes me (and Dustin, fellow Gemini) "charming and diplomatic, especially away from home." So there you have it. Good things are coming our way! Yipee!

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