and in the superstardom news

Sir Bulldog flew down the The Capital City today to speak at a conference, and while he was there, he just happened to pop into the pub over the road from The Beehive, where his fave live show is taped EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT!!! yeah, this is Pub Politics at its best, a wonderful home-grown show, and guess who got on telly?!!!

Destructions to view: click here to "Back Benches Series 2010, Episode 11, 28 Apr 2010", scroll to just below the screen and click on "CHAPTER 04"... about 20 seconds into the scene Sir walks into the shot from stage right, sees himself on the screen, and strikes a pose - he didn't get a live interview though lol - and sorry about the daft pre-footage ads X

big day. little drink.

dahling peeps of the internets,

huge thankses for buoying me up yesterday.
the kids are completely gorgeous.
the administration is doing my head in.
i have so much homework to do tonight.
and the next night, and the next.
oh, i wore this. tomorrow i'm wearing this.
and tomorrow, we are making stuffs.
i love making stuffs.

i might have to start using capital letters now.

three days ago, i find out i have a half-time job of four tweenage classes, which might last two weeks, and might last a term. i blink. i run around in circles. i find helpful teachers. i plan, i sort. i find term plans and objectives and odd bits of instructions. i freak out, i print out paper and file in folders. i wonder, soft materials technology and information technology, how hard can you be? i can sew. i can use the word processor. i can write html code. but uh, hello katie? it's not just making stuffs or blogging or uploading photos to facebook, it's design technology. i freak out again. i trawl through curriculum documents. i locate maths notes, i grab the egg timer and two brainy puzzles books and think, algebra, i am so thankful i'm starting with you. but science, science? i freak out again, again. i gather folders, texts, ideas, more folders, highlighter pens and more planning. i read around and around in circles. i talk to myself, i photocopy stuffs, i borrow books, i start to mesh new theory with old practice, i take notes, i make notes, i write notes to self. i start work tomorrow.

dogsitting - boysitting

mika and mick,
on an endless
saturday morning
cycle of sit, stay,
fetch, roll over.

Sir Bulldog, Master of Educational Administration (with Distinction)

WOO HOOOO!!!
After countless years of study,
whilst juggling teaching jobs
and kids and a blonde wife
and endless after school hours
and weekends,
you have earned your MASTERS!!!
Bravo, Sir!!!!!
We're all so proud of you!!!
An absolutely First Class effort -

bring on the Doctorate!

Yeah, you're the man.
We gave each other Pounamu
to mark the occasion of our Graduations.

Oh, and here are the

Family Posing on the Tranquil Beach
photographs:

(Captions courtesy of Danny Boy)
Dad and Mum: "Sam, look at the camera and smile!"
Dan: "Where is the camera again?"
Raych: "What are they doing?"
Joel: "Ewww, do I really have to hold his hand?"
Sam: "I hate photos!"
Michael: "Why can't they all look as gorgeous as me?"

skatey katie, B. Tchg.

i finally have my stickerfiKATE - and the ceremony to prove it!!! huge thanks to whanau and friends for keeping me alive and laughing during my study year. of COURSE there's a whole lot of photos! cos as always, it's all about ME.

my newest fave dress.
it's annah s.
i 'fess that it was ridiculously expensive,
but hey - i'm worth it!

pre-ceremony.
oops, don't mind the
back-to-front trencher!

yeah, we got PIPED up
the main street in town!

and there were BALLOONS!!!

it's all about the balloons, baby.

lookit - capped!!!!!

my piece of paper.

stickerfiKATE, which is mine forever.

the sanguine extroverts.

the graduates.

mah peeps. i think all
the balloons have popped.

my proud parents,
who both have Masters degrees.
for now, i'm content with my Bachelor's.
(oh dear, i'm having a 'to apostrophe,
or not to apostrophe?' moment)

this is actually my fave whanau photo.
in honour of the crazy middle-of-the-night
finding my essay mojo moments.
these guys have been totally amazing,
the best support team a katie could have.

the hippy happy hurry scurry veggie curry recipe, by popular request (pffft)

we've been cooking vegetarian over the easter weekend, to keep my gorgeous brother happy. mum and dad got a dinner invitation tonight, so i braved the kitchen all by myself. i usually make this curry with happy-chicken and pumpkin, but today i channelled my inner beanie.

ohk, veggies, here we go:
grab your beloved 1970s pressure cooker.
soak 1 cup of chick peas for 4 hours (while you go out and jump off waterfalls) and then pressure cook for 15 mins, cool for 10 mins, drain and put aside (or just use a can or two of pre-cooked easy peasies. ha! peasies. well, i think it's funny).

cube half a large pumpkin and 2 kumarara (it's really pronounced kooh-mah-rah, but Bulldog insists on calling them koooo-ma-RAH-rahs), squirt with olive oil, sprinkle with ocean salt and roast in the oven for 15 - 20 mins until crisping on edges and still fluffy inside.

while the roasting's goin' on,
sauté 3 onions in olive oil in the pressure cooker.
add the magic ingredient (2 sachets) and two dried chillies, chopped.
add 2 tins coconut cream and pressure cook 10 mins.

now undo the lid and very very gently stir in the other stuffs (roasted veggies, hippy happy chick peas)

tip it all over cooked basmati rice and serve with a spoonful of raita (combined cubed or grated cucumber, chopped mint, natural yoghurt) on the side.

hide the leftovers at the back of the fridge and scoff for lunch the next day.

beach boy

today mum'n'greg'n'i
headed for the sand and surf.
well mostly the sand,
although we did get our feet wet.