Awesome - today marks the fifth anniversary of Ice and I living together, and hence five years since my arrival in NYC.
This pic was taken about 2 weeks ago at the pier at Atlantic City. The time goes by so quickly - leaving NZ is starting to feel like a while back, but not that long ago, despite all the changes in my life that have occurred in that time. What I still find bizarre is that living in our little apartment in New York has been by far the longest I've lived in one place in my entire life - my previous record was about three years in one place, yet I still miss NZ and I guess I always will, not to mention the people there like Amber and my family and friends - and the surfing of course! In a few weeks time my Mother is stopping in NYC for a few days on her way to Spain and wherever else she is travelling, which will be great - it'll be the first time I've seen her in over five years!
Coming to NYC is never a regret though - IceQueen is as wonderful as the first day I came here (if not more wonderful), and has been a hugely positive influence on my life. In that time Ice has progressed well in her professional career - including a very recent promotion to Lead Engineer *applause*, as well as recently finishing her Masters Degree *more applause*. At the same time Ice has given me the encouragement and support to take up full time study and graduate with an Associate Degree, which in turn helped earn me a full scholarship to a four-year Bachelor of Science degree which I am now working towards, and ultimately a CPA qualification and maybe Masters Degree too.
Among other things, Ice also encouraged me to give up smoking - it's been almost two years since I gave up. What's really important is that Ice has helped me trust too, and I'm happy as a box of fluffies that we are one. Ice is my best friend, confidante and lover, all bundled into one wet-snooted, bouncy, twinkly-eyed, warm fuzzy cuddly thing - the sunshine of my life. I love you Weasling.
When I got home from lectures on Friday afternoon I rang Ice at work to discuss what we would do to celebrate our anniversay on Saturday, but Ice had planned something already and won't tell me what we're doing - such an evil but lovable little weasling. I guess I'll just have to update you later on that one.
erin | September 28, 2006 7:05 PM | Reply
awwww... gratz!
Mich | September 29, 2006 5:40 AM | Reply
Wow... has it been that long... must be Tamatoa is nearly five! God time flies!!!!
Beaut photo... you look better than you did 5 years ago... must be the perfect woman's touch aye?
Doesn't seem that long ago when we were freaking out on 11 Sept 01 (well 12th actually in NZ) wondering if you were ok etc... scary times.
Anyway mate... looks like we are off to Iran next, nothing confirmed yet, I will let you know when I know.
xoxoxoxox
Mich | September 29, 2006 5:42 AM | Reply
Also can you email me tips on the giving up smoking thing please????
Time for me to take the plunge...
Although I do remember us being good smoko buddies in the car park at Telecom NZ! Lol, great gossip times!
Nereus | October 3, 2006 12:54 AM | Reply
Heya Mich - good to hear from ya! Yeah scary how fast time goes huh? Thanks for the compliment (that I look better now than I did) ..I hope that's a compliment anyway *heh* ..and yeah, must be the perfect woman's influence for sure. :) My Mum was in NYC a week ago and said I looked almost exactly the same (minus the long hair and less a bit of weight too I guess) I think she meant I hadn't aged at all, so I must be doing something right.
Holy crap, Iran??? You really sure that's a good idea? They ain't exactly pro-Western over there, and although you're Kiwis, that's not gonna mean shit to the locals.. and they're getting more and more anti-west every day. Personally I wouldn't go near the place, or if the money's that good, base yourself somewhere else while Max does the contract in Iran. What exactly are you guys doing now anyway? Still IT related? If you go to Iran, I expect weekly emails so I know you're ok and don't have to worry if you'd been kidnapped for ransom by some shithead radical extremists on some fucked up crusade of non-tolerance.
Hmm smoking.. I tried to give up a few times but always started again. When I finally gave up it was when I was sick (actually, I was really sick and in hospital in intensive care for a few days with West Nile virus) so I didn't / couldn't smoke at the time anyway, and I felt like crap even once I got out of hospital and didn't feel like a smoke for a while. I had bought patches and gum and all that crap in preparation for giving up, but ended up never using any of them (didn't make much sense to me to use alternative forms of nictine in order to give up nicotine anyway).. the big difference is also that I had cigarettes available, whereas in previous attempts I always finished the pack I had, but then I'd go buy another one and so on.. so giving up despite the fact I had cigarettes available at anytime somehow gave me more will to give up.. I think my logic was that if I stopped smoking and had no cigarettes available, I'd convince myself I was only not smoking due to deprivation, not because I wanted to give up. When the cigarettes were available and I didn't smoke anyway, I knew it was because of my own will and not because of deprivation, and somehow that kept my will stronger, if that makes sense. I didn't cut down slowly beforehand, it was immediate cold turkey. That pack of smokes is still sitting in a drawer here two years later. There is still times I'm seriously tempted to light up, but then I think of how long I've been without a smoke, and that kinda serves as a reason not to have one. You need to tell Max though that he needs to support you and be understanding over the first few weeks, as you'll likely get pretty stroppy and fly off the handle at anything - your body will be stressing out at the deprivation - it's withdrawal basically and there's no way around it other than keeping as relaxed as possible and not putting yourself in stressful situations. It gets easier as time goes on, although the worst times are when you're out socializing or having a beer I found. Let me know if that helps.
Cheers and hugs Mich! xoxo