Transplant April 7

Jason finally got a call about his transplant!  2 weeks ago he received a call that his surgery was scheduled for May 6th. When he went in for his pre-operation appointment last week the doctor decided to move up his cornea transplant to next week!!  Basically his condition has reached its worst point, the only inevitable thing left to happen is for his cornea to literally pop open.  I don't know about you  but I'm not really a fan of popping things in my eyes.  At this point, anything is better than what he sees now without his special contacts.  The doctor says that if all goes accordingly he'll have immediate improvement in vision. That's huge for someone that is used to seeing ghosting, multiple images, blur, and zero details for the past 12 years. 

pumping petrol in another country

Today was the very first day I have pumped gas...petrol in New Zealand speak...since I have been driving.  I am pretty sure I looked like a weirdo trying to figure out where to swipe my card at the pump.  Turns out New Zealand doesn't have such a feature. Here you still have to walk inside and pay.  Lame.  I go inside to pay and he asks me what kind of petrol I want. ummm the unleaded kind??  They go by number here and so I had to guess what was closest to unleaded.  I think I picked right but if my car blows up sometime this week we all know why. 
and one more funny thing that happened to me today... We have a small bathroom counter...bench in New Zealand speak...and I usually put my hair dryer, makeup, straightener in the sink while I get ready in the morning.  I always check to make sure it's not wet for obvious reasons.  -Except today I didn't.  I laid my straightener in the sink and upon plug in the brightest and loudest spark know to man happened.  I jumped back (with no injury) and found a black pile of smoke where my straightener was.   That was not safe. 

New Zealand News

{bread platters, 8 months, new car, the prime minister, job offers, immigration, corneas,  and autumn}  a few choice words to summarize our lives in the past month.

I'm currently obsessed with bread platters.  I never even heard of such a thing until I turned into a pseudo-Kiwi.  It's a fancy plate with various types of bread and crackers.  It can include dips with cheese, olive oil, chilli, list goes on... We have made 2 at home since my obsession has started and I keep getting better ideas.  We sat on the floor with our bread platter last week and did family home evening as well.

We've been married 8 months this past week.  I know I know, I'm a newly-wed and keep making a huge deal out of every little anniversary.   My response:  if something is good then it needs to be celebrated!  We did indeed celebrate.  I treated Jason to a 4 course meal by candlelight in our own living room   Each course had a "cost" associated with it.  For example:  Lemon water cost was 1 kiss.  Let's just say it went over well with the customer!!

BIG NEWS:  I'm driving in New Zealand.  We bought a car last week and I've started driving since it's an automatic.  The other side of the road is a little weird but I'm learning to get in the car on the other side and stay on the left hand side.  Confession:  we bought a Japanese car-which is not bad-it's just something I said I would never ever do.  When you live on the bottom of the world you have to buy what's in the country.  Japanese cars and Australian cars are the main thing you see here.

We ran the Round the Bays 8K yesterday morning.  There were 70,000 runners!  The race was bigger than anything I've ever seen.  I had two favorites about this race.  1. The prime minister of New Zealand made an appearance at the start line and offered a good luck to the runners.  Being an American it's hard to picture the president stepping out just to be there for the start of the race.  I guess that's how it goes when you live in a peacekeeping country.  2nd favorite was the port.  I love the port.  I can't explain why I think the Auckland port is cool but it is.  Jason had a great race and I was happy with my time as well.

We ran the North Shore Coastal challenge the weekend before.  It was a 10 mile race along the north coast of Auckland.  I've never ran a race like that before!  It was hiking, climbing, swimming, running in beach sand all in one race.  We both loved it.
I'm still training for the Rotorua Marathon.  Race day is 1 month away!!  Last Saturday I ran 14 miles and the mileage is really starting to climb from here on out.  If you're thinking about running a marathon do it! It's great fun.  I keep a marathon training blog-check it out-  www.larissarichards.blogspot.com
Teaching opportunities are finally starting to come my way.  Nothing official but I'm hoping to have great news very soon in that department.  I miss teaching so bad.

And now for the most annoying update of all...Immigration status.  Can I just say that applying for residency in another country is possibly the most tedious and stressful thing one can do.  I'm getting ready to submit and drop a large sum of cash just to be here legally and get dibs on the free healthcare.  I've had to gather tons of info to prove that it's not a mail-order bride situation.  I've printed out journal entries, personal emails, and pretty much anything that shows affection and love between us.  A bit weird to send it to government officials but what do I know?  I'm also working on submitting my US tax return.  Fact:  American citizens pay tax on foreign earned income!!!  There are some loopholes but Uncle Sam is still getting some of my hard earned cash.

Jason is still waiting for a cornea transplant. His eye doctor has confirmed that his condition is worsening and a transplant is needed now more than ever.  We're really really hoping to have a date by the end of March! 

It's autumn now.  Sad day.  Summer is over but the temperature isn't much different.  The main difference is the shorter days.  Pretty soon it's going to be winter where it rains for days!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhh