Wed 6 Nov

The day has arrived!!!! We're going to New Zealand!!!! Had a nice visit from Michael and Taylor last night to wish us well and get any last-minute instructions. Had a decent sleep. We'll head out in about an hour to leave the car at the hotel in Chicago and begin our Kiwi Adventure!!!! Food: 6:50 am Chocolate croissant, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Tues 5 Nov

Hard to believe we're leaving tomorrow already! I can start packing the last-minute things into my carry-on today and trying to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. It's a tad stressful, I don't mind admitting. Food: 7:40 am Cheese danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:00 pm Oikos Triple Zero coffee, pumpkin bread 5:40 sm 2 drumsticks, 1/4 c roasted corn, 3/4 c homemade applesauce

Mon 4 Nov

Wow, are we getting close! These next two days, I will go to the gym and tutoring as usual, but the rest of my time will likely be spent going over last minute details. Forgot to wear my Fitbit to the gym today. All those treadmill steps not counted!! Food: 8:00 am Chocolate caramel danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:45 pm Concha 1:45 pm Chicken soup Exercise: 9:05-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class 10:40-11:20 am Machine/balance workout

Sun 3 Nov

We forgot to set our clocks back for the end of Daylight Savings Time, but since we went to church at 5 pm yesterday and have no commitments until choir this afternoon, it really didn't matter that we reset them this morning instead. Most of the clocks reset themselves, but the living room, wall clock in the dining room, and the two bedroom clocks needed manual attention. I was feeling guilty for sleeping til 7:30, and now I can feel virtuous for actually getting up at 6:30 today. Worked hard and got the itinerary fleshed out yesterday. Set up a sailing excursion on Lake Taupo to see Maori carvings, a cellar door winery tasting and looked at some other options we can decide at the time. Food: 7:50 am Apricot danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Sat 2 Nov

First indoor farmer's market today, and David kept his promise to have his wares available. Emma was there to sell so we had a chance to visit with her. David made a pastry today that he had made when Emma was growing up, and that I had just seen as a technical challenge on GBBS - the kouign amann. He makes his with a jam filling, but it's utterly delicious. Had to do a search of the GBBS site to find out how to spell it. Food: 8:45 am Kouign amann, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Fri 1 Nov

Had a successful Halloween with about 140 Trick-or-Treaters on a very chilly evening. Leftover chicken soup made a good dinner while tending the door. Skipping the gym today to walk with Kathy so I'll get all my steps with no problem. Food: 7:55 am Chocolate frosted Mexican donut, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:45 pm 2 scrambled eggs, pumpkin bread Exercise: 8:30-10:00 am Walk w/Kathy