meercat.

We are enjoying our dog-sitting gig in Northland. The water in Opononi has Crayola’s robin’s egg blue color to it:

We spent the other day going over details about the house, kitchen, dogs, etc. so we could watch Holly, Moses, Buzz, and Muffin for about 10 days.

Jan sometimes says “oh goodness, no, life is too short for that.” Most of the time I completely agree, like when she said, “Don’t worry about washing the tall outside windows, they don’t look too bad and life is too short for that.”

But when Jan showed us the TV and its four dials, I asked, “do you watch Ellen everyday?”

She looked at me as if I had asked, “Are you as dumb as you look?” And she said, “No. Life is too short for that.”

Eh, strike one, Jan. Strike one.

Over breakfast, Jan was showing us the surrounding area on maps and telling us about places we must see. She went into great detail about a place, the cost of the ferry to get there, what to bring, blah blah, then she said, “It’s quite boring there really, nothing special about it.” So Kasey was tempted to scratch out the notes she just took on the place for ten minutes.

During the “places to see” conversation, I asked, “Is there a town close by going the other direction?” And Jan said, “I’ll get to that. Can I finish my breakfast first?”

And here’s the pitch…it’s straight down the middle…strike two! I wasn’t saying, “drop everything and show me on a map, woman!” But more like, “Is there a town over there? Yes or no?”

Steve came downstairs in his very tight and small underwear and he seemed surprised that the three girls staying in his house were in his house.

A couple of days ago, they headed out for their trip and left the greatest variety of food (American bacon!! Every time you order bacon here, it is Canadian. So you have to specify “streaky bacon” and it’s quite pricey), so we’ve been feasting and experimenting.

It’s nice waking up when we wish (or when the dogs want their morning biscuit). We have coffee and muesli and then do an insanity video, jump in the hot tub, watch Ellen, cook dinner (we made Alice Springs chicken last night!) and we are always taking advantage of the amazing library. I’m reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and can’t get enough. It’s been a bit rainy, so we’ve hunkered down and thoroughly enjoyed the house.