Toenail Tails

Please excuse the grossness of feet on your screen, but I'd like to share my injury with all my loyal readers, - hopefully I have a few. A week or so ago I indulged in a seemingly harmless game of tennis with my pastor and a young couple from church. We started off with a simple vollying of the ball to get warmed up. Things progressed and Haley and I were paired off to play a few games. We were equally matched which made it enjoyable. Due to all the sudden stops for wonderful saves of the ball and jamming of the toes in the shoes for all those powerful hits, I painfully injured my beloved toe. Technically toes, but the one big toe got the raw end of the deal. Can you guess which toe it is? I fear a day will come when the dead toenail will fall off.

Taupo, New Zealand

Pictures from our trip to Taupo.

Lady Knox Geyser. They helped nature out and dropped soap in it.

Geothermal lake. That's a bridge to walk across it in the top left.

More geothermal stuff. It was really smelly and not in a good way.

The "lake" was a bright lime green. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Huka Falls. The water was very blue and clear.

Our hike up Mt. Tauhara. A view from a little ways up.

We're thinking the forest on the left is man-made.

A view from the top. It took about an hour and half through a crazy jungle.

I'm the king of the world.

We sat at the top and ate cheerios and carrots.

The Coffee Club

Today was Dave's first day of work at The Coffee Club. He received his shirts, aprons and hats when he arrived. The other hat is more like a baseball cap. His official title is "Junior Chef", but has quite a few chefs above him. After an order is called out he has to say, "Yes chef" just like on Hell's Kitchen. He did a lot of cutting of vegetables to prepare for the opening. Cooking of meals will come eventually. He had a good time and is excited to start cooking.

The Little Things

My sweetie made me a caramel cappuccino.

All play and no work makes Dave a bored boy.

Hallelujah. Dave has a job. Well, almost. Last week he interviewed at a restaurant/cafe called The Coffee Club to be a cook. Even though he hasn't had any experience they are willing to hire him. They seem to have a flexible time schedule for when Dave would want to take a day or two off. The pay would start at $13.50 NZD but after three months he would be evaluated and could get a raise. However, Dave found a welding job that might pay around $17 if he is qualified. He has an interview today. We'll see how it goes. He would prefer the cooking position, but if the welding jobs seems pretty good, he might take that. But he for sure has a job. The Coffee Club said he has the job, but if he takes the job welding, to let them know right away. It will be nice for Dave to start working, for both him and myself. He's starting to get bored and I would like to have a little time to myself every now and then.

The Art of Socializing

Last Saturday Dave and I were invited to Pastor Paul's house for dinner. He is the Pastor at the Welcome Bay Community Church we attended the other week. He invited a few younger adults for us to meet and a couple other people.

When we arrived we stood around the grill and talked until "tea" was ready. I think I've already explained that down here tea means dinner. The food was great. We had some type of beef strips and sausages/brats. There was also salad, a cole slaw and what they called pumpkin. It tasted like a squash.

After dinner we had "pudding", which is dessert. The choices were cream puff eclairs, a pineapple pastry, ice cream and pancakes with butter. Once dessert was over, we played a game called Scruples. You get five cards that have questions on them and then one card that will have either yes, no or maybe. You chose a person you want to ask one of your questions, and if your one card says no, want that person to answer no to your question. An example question would be: "Your fiance gives you a new video camera as a gift. When you agree to break off the engagement you're asked to return the camera. Do you?" If my card said depends, I would want the person to answer with depends. I enjoyed it. Dave wasn't a fan. Its kind of like Apples to Apples, which he doesn't like either. I was actually the winner and Pastor Paul was like, "Whoever wins gets to make supper." I just figured he meant I would make supper the next time we got together. But then he stood up and said, "I'm just kidding, I'll make it." I was like, "Are we eating again?" Apparently supper means drinks, like tea or coffee or hot chocolate. I have discovered that the hot chocolate down here is terrible. They use this powder called Milo and it's disgusting.

All in all, I had a fun night conversing with someone other than just Dave. It was nice to get out and meet new people.