Pilgrim's Progress

In a moment of insanity I volunteered to help out with my church’s youth drama production. My job was co-coordinator of costumes, along with Bobby, another hapless volunteer. Both of us having never done anything remotely like this before found ourselves frequently stressed out. The play turned out to be a major production with a cast of 24 people, with ages ranging from 7 to adults. I had my doubts about how well it was going to turn out, but in the end everyone pulled together and the play was a great success.

This experience taught me a few things about myself-I don’t like working with children! Well, it’s not that bad, but I did find some of the participants extremely challenging to deal with! Hayden, the director, was very patient and did an excellent job of managing the whole process. Everyone put a lot of hard work into it, and it paid off!

A Dark Day

It's a dark day for New Zealand. The French won the rugby game yesterday morning. The All Blacks are not going on to the world cup finals. I found widespread mourning upon entering work today. My boss's door had a sign posted to it that read, "Do not mention rugby in this room!" The Hawke's Bay Magpies, however, slightly redeemed the weekend by beating the Waikato team, which is a longtime rival.

Day at the Races

New Zealand's richest horse race is held in Hastings. The Kelt Capital stakes were $2 million to the owner of the winning horse. It's a huge event and everyone is expected to dress the part. The day turned out to be sunny and perfect weather for all the picnic goers. After a delicious brunch at Bryce and Anna's house, we set off with our picnic blankets, chilly bins, and sunnies to spend the rest of the afternoon socializing and gambling. It was very exciting! I spent most of the time gawking at what people were wearing. There were some outrageous hats and dresses. Princess Coup was the winner of the big race. Unfortunately she was not the horse I was betting on. There goes $ 5 down the drain!