So 8 months and no posts. It's not for a lack of action in my life. In fact lots has happened in the last 8 months - i joined a soccer team, we went back to the US for Christmas, went to the Rugby Sevens in Wellington, my grandmother passed away, we went to Japan, Matt turned 30 and more.

I could spend time trying to recap it all, but i'm not going to. That said i have just linked each of those topics to the corresponding sets of pictures on flickr.

As for things now, things many things are still the same. We're still looking for a house. Both still at our jobs - i'm working on another paper for my NZX diploma. Also training for the marathon (I'm doing the half marathon (22km) this year).

It's winter in Auckland which means lots of rain. We never get any snow here which is a bit sad, but on the plus side its never so cold that i'm out in a hat and mittens (although this could change).

A new New York style pizzeria has opened here - Sal's Authentic NY pizza. And it is authentic. Matt and i went twice yesterday. All of the ingredients are imported from the US (ok, i never said it was a low carbon footprint pizza). It's funny how something like food can make you home sick. It's the little things - like for instance they had shakers of oregano, chili pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Normally, Matt makes fun of me for putting toppings like this on my pizza, but it's the norm in America. I ordered a slice of cheese and the guy behind the counter got kind of sheepish because there was tons of cheese slices left, saying how most people in NY just get cheese slices. Preaching to the choir buddy. Interesting, the host of the TV show "The Kitchen Job", John Palino, was there ordering a pizza too. He's an American (Matt and i like his show) and we got to talking. Seems i don't sound American any more. He was surprised to hear i was from New Jersey. We had a nice 20 minute chat with him - he went to Mason Gross at Rutgers!

Talking to him though has made me think perhaps I'm losing some of my American-ness. It's not the first time someone was surprised to hear i was an American. When i was in Japan, the Australians there thought *I* was an Australian. I spent so long not wanting to seem American that now that i don't i kind i miss it. Ironic, huh?

I also need to get something off my chest. Goldman Sachs is a hot topic of late. Whether it's an article in Rolling Stone calling it "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money" or it's articles talking about new record profitability after paying back TARP, it seems to be everywhere. Every article seems to make mention of the new massive pool of funds destined to be this years bonuses giving the worlds 29,500 Goldman Sachs employees a bonus payout of $770k. Let me clairfy something here - something that has been really irking me each time i read this. The woman working in the mailroom at the Goldman Sachs offices will not be making $770k. The lady in the settlements department will not be making $770k. Neither will the PA's, the IT guys working the help desk or any other of the average employees making up a big chunk of that 29,500 number. Nor will it be going to anyone at Goldman Sachs JBWere (which is only part owned by Goldman Sachs). This of course means the average bonus payment the directors and bigshots will be higher. It's not right, but it is how it is. I'm just sick of people saying everyone it getting this big bonuses. They're not.

Anyways, the blog is back and so i'll make a bit more of an effort to start posting more often.

All my love, Lindsay.