Introducing...

You may be wondering why I'm in New Zealand, and of course the answer is as old as time: I met a woman.

As she is reading this, I have to be circumspect in how I describe her.  Let's just say she's beautiful, intelligent, talented, charming and honest.  (And let's pray to God she's not into acronyms.)  She has a fantastic sense of humour, and did I mention she's a red-head?

She has three kids, which she's raised effectively on her own.  (Her ex-husband always travelled for work and was never around much.  Now he shows up about twice a year and blames her that he doesn't see the kids more...)  Although the 13-year-old took a little while to come around, the 11-year-old and 9-year-old took to me right away (as did the cat).  They're all good kids, with the usual teenage and pre-teen angst thrown in.  (I look at it as karma for all the horrible things I did at that age.)

Plus...it's New Zealand.  She lives about 40 minutes from Wellington, and 5 minutes from the ocean.  I came in January (summer), April (autumn) and September (the tail end of winter) and can say it's gorgeous year-round.  (She complains about the rain, which is true--they get about three times the annual rainfall of Los Angeles, and a third more than London, but still less than Glasgow!)  The only thing I can complain about is the accent--think of a Scouse, only happier.

So that's the short answer.  Right now I'm enjoying the novelty of it--especially trying to pronounce maori names, such as Paraparaumu and pukeko--but in the long run, I have no doubt I'm right where I'm meant to be.

P.S. Before I moved here, I told my mother New Zealand was the same distance from California as the UK, just in the opposite direction, so I wasn't moving any *further* away.  However, it turns out London is 5,350 miles while Auckland is 6,525 miles.  Sorry, Mom. :-(