Shadow the wonder dog.

Shadow has been jumping out. There is a six foot high fence around the section, supplemented in places with netting, but she still manages to find a way to get out. Today, Chris and I discovered she can scramble over the fence by the magnolia, in part because it was built with the flat side facing out so there is a ledge for her to get purchase on. Clever dog. Chris is buying more netting. Sigh.
Janine finally has her Christmas present - a brand new bike, as she has outgrown her old one, and uses it nearly every day to get to school. It has taken a while to sort out what she actually wants and find one at a decent price.
Zach and Hannah had their swimming sports where their lack of swimming practice was sadly evident. So, we are going to have to find a day to go to the pool regularly, and help them get a bit better.
Katarina is off for her first badminton game of the year, at the stadium.

More of the same

Zach had a futsal friendly with a Christchurch club who came down and played a mini tournament. The boys learnt some hard lessons as the final games was up against a couple of NZ reps in their age group and a team that were actually listening to their coach! The opposition coach wasn't saying anything different to ours, but their team, besides having very good ball skills, played strategically. We had plenty of possession but couldn't settle or convert into any goals. In other words, this was a level up, and a good reminder for our boys; they are quite good, but there is a lot to work on!
Janine went to a party on Saturday and had a great time. Her friend Erin came and stayed the weekend also. Janine has recently expanded her wardrobe from PJ's and trackies to include some rather nice tunics and things - she looked great. She also borrows my boots which is not so great.
Katarina has been working hard on some titrations for chemistry; we had to go down to Salt Water Creek last Sunday and collect samples from various locations and now she is trying to work out out the variation in salinity. I am wondering at what point to tell her about the machines that can calculate all that in real time...
Hannah had a sleep-over on Friday night, and also went to the movies with her friend on Saturday. That child has a better social life than we do!

What the!

There is a tradition in New Zealand of telling stories, each one worse than the one before.

It feels a bit like that after the Japanese earthquake. Not only was it bigger (9.0!!!) but the tsunamis! And potential nuclear catastrophes, not just one but three! So, bad as things are up the road, matters are exponentially worse in Japan. Things are bad, but they could be so much worse!

All sorts of things are going to be affected for us. Not only is Zach's futsal tournament off, there are now questions being asked about the football tournament later in the year.

And in the meantime, life continues pretty much as normal in many ways. Katarina is at Craighead's sports day after Friday was postponed due to rain. Hannah has been promoted to school councillor after someone else left. Zach and Hannah have both been to the dentist for fillings in the last two weeks. And Janine continues to be her normal helpful self, most of the time.

We have enjoyed having Chris' parents back for a few days, they have some lovely photos of where they have been.

Nearly two weeks later

Funny how complete upheaval settles into the new normal in a couple of weeks.
We are blessed - normal services, normal routines, power and water and shopping as normal. Yet we are dealing with many who have been traumatized in various ways through the earthquake and there is a growing awareness that resilience will be needed over the coming weeks, months and years.
The children are enjoying the novelty of new faces in their classes; the staff at our local school have been exemplary in their warm welcome to children, fitting them in without extra resources or anyone knowing how long they will be here.
Timaru as a city is busy with over 7000 more people here - our normal population is around 27 000. The local swimming pool is offering free sessions for Christchurch visitors, and their hosts which is great, and the local welfare centres are busy.
I spent Saturday in Dunedin, Hannah went to a friend's party, Zach has had a cold, Janine and Katarina had a teacher only day on Friday, and Chris is rearranging the office.
We've not felt many of the aftershocks, although Igather there was a sharp jolt on Saturday.
All is well.