Happy Birthday QEII

What do JB, Malcolm and the Queen have in common? Why, birthdays of course. JB celebrated his 58th (can you believe it?) on Saturday, the Queen's (that would be Elizabeth) is the 6th and Malcolm's is the 7th. Oh, wait, we can't forget the Pinkster on the 3rd. Monday is a national holiday, but we will be open nonetheless. In NZ the labor laws require that you pay your employees whether they work or not.

The British and Irish Lions have landed and played their first provincial game against the Bay of Plenty in Rotorua. We had a nice crowd in the restaurant for the game, munching on burritos and chips, drinking margaritas and having a jolly good time.

The weather has turned to winter, but it's not all that bad. We saw a few brightly colored parakeets in the trees at Titirangi, so it can't get too cold. Today JB and I played a very nice parkland golf course in Devonport - Waitemata - which I thought I could handle after getting chewed up and spit out at Titirangi time after time. No such luck. I think I have lost my edge - and my swing. But it was sunny and warm, and there were no hills to climb, so all and all it was a pretty nice day.

The boys have purchased bicycles for their frequent trips to the restaurant. They have had to share the Boobaroo (the new moniker for the Subaru since it has so many dents in it from driving the wrong way) and feel the need for freedom.

Mikey has moved to the front to help hone our delivery skills. It was a brilliant move because he's right at home chatting up the customers. We have Judy covering the prep work in the back, which frees Mike up to fine-tune the line. Tyler is still the scheduling task-master, and Conor continues to work on marketing. He and Alice (our marketing firm, Radical Alice) have come up with some really creative ideas. We will focus on the "fresh" aspect of our business with ideas like freshly painted chairs and "fresh as today's news" inserts in the Herald. It's true, Alice sees everything differently.

JB and I spent the afternoon with post-golf excursion around Devonport. We are thinking that's where we want to live. The apartment is a tad wee bit small, and we quite fancy the ferry ride into work. We will be calling our real estate guy, Lewis Guy, after the holiday to set up a time for some viewings. Most of the houses are Victorian-era cottages and are so very cute.

And the real zinger for me is Tyler's impending birthday on the 19th. He will be 29. Time does go so very fast!

Cheers!