first week

I've been in Auckland for nearly one week. My first week at work has been pretty fun; at the moment I am editing a book about dogs who have jobs. It's children's non fiction, with funny pictures. So it isn't glamorous, but it's good experience, and everyone needs to learn about dogs some time, right?

On my lunch break on Tuesday, I discovered a good sushi place (Sushi-ya) up the road from the office. I'm not meant to eat sushi; something to do with rice collecting bacteria really quickly. But Sushi-ya has a man standing there making the sushi while you walk past and take from the pile, so I figure the turnover must be pretty good. And they have delicious miso soup. Umami indeed.

Living at home is nice; there are lots of feijoa smoothies in the fridge, and I have been drinking them with my breakfast each morning. Last night we went to the supermarket and I managed to sneak lots of yum food into the trolley. I'm sure she saw, but the best part of not living with your parents is when you come to stay, they like to buy you nice food.

So another busy week coming up, and an even busier weekend. My flying visit to Wellington will include making sandwiches, a super-fun party, taking Mum back to the airport, an early Christmas lunch with Jeremy's family, and rushing back to catch my own plane. Hopefully it will also involve eating at Oaks Satay Noodle House, having (decaf) coffee on the waterfront, maybe some gelato from Kaffeeis, and seeing my cousins. It's going to be jampacked, but it will be fun. Plus, I'll get to see my (ex?) classmates, and I've been missing hanging out with them every day. Oh, and Jeremy.

Today, back here in Auckland, the sun is shining and the air is starting to warm up. I think it might be a shorts day. Later I am going to help Mum run errands, and continue plundering her cookbooks for more ideas for the graduation party next week. I think I've got the menu sorted, but I'm always open to new ideas! At the moment I'm just trying to finalise the club sandwich fillings. I'll definitely make a cream cheese, mint, and cucumber sandwich; I'm just not sure what the other option will be. How glorious: a weekend of reading cookbooks!

christmas rush

About a month ago, I blithely volunteered to cater the graduation function for my class. The class made a collective decision to host a 'high tea', and I assumed that would be easy enough to organise, especially as I was planning to be at home all of the week before the Friday evening event.

Then I had a call from a publisher in Auckland, asking me to take on a short-term contract: starting next week and working until 21 December. Being the generally agreeable person that I am, I merrily said, 'Of course, I can move to Auckland for two months with only a week's notice', and gave nary a thought to the consequences until I hung up the phone.

So I have concocted a plan to both work in Auckland and cater the event. It involves lots of pre-cooking, chocolate tarts masquerading as carry-on luggage, and some frantic asparagus roll-making in the hours before the party starts. As some of my readers might be aware, however, I thrive on drama and stress. I guess choosing publishing for a career was a good way to channel this.

The move to Auckland is timely: my sister is coming back from Canada for a few weeks in December, so I will get to spend lots of time with her instead of just a few days over Christmas. And there are other family reasons why I want to be in Auckland at this time.

So I'm looking forward to the opportunity to work with New Zealand's oldest publishers, but I am going to miss Jeremy and all the pre-Christmas fun to be had. Jeremy said that putting up the Christmas tree can wait until one of my weekend visits, so I'll still get to take part in the Christmas Tree Tradition: pumping up the volume on an awful/great Christmas compliation CD I bought for $6.99 at the Warehouse; trying to find space for the tree in our tiny house; eating chocolate santas instead of attaching them to the tree; searching for an extension cord so we can plug in the lights; standing back and admiring our handiwork. Ahh, Christmas is coming, and the goose is getting fat.

I just have to get through the move, the graduation function, and the pre-Christmas rush at work. No problem. I thrive on drama and stress.