There And Back Again

Hello,,

        I thought it might be smart to have a recap for all new readers and perhaps just to refresh old readers memories,, This blog is a Diary of Our Trip to New Zealand this coming October.  The Participants are: me- Max the Administrator, The Record Holder, the King-maker and All Around All Father.  The Twins-Timmy and Tommy, who by the way just turned 13 yoa. (Now I have to pay adult air fare, thanks boys ). We are huge Lord of The Rings Fans, who have been dreaming of traveling to NZ , where they filmed the movie. The Agreement by all involved is as Follows. The Twins must carry above average grades ie: A’s and B’s and I must pay for the whole kit and kaboodle ( both boys have since made the Honor Roll,, What the Hell was I thinking !!!!). The Trip , which includes a tour  Relaxing Journeys and plane fare is coming in around $16,000 ( again what the hell was I thinking?!!!!!!).  I have been working tirelessly to make this Dream and Promise a reality, I have worked almost all Days off, not including Mothers Day-I had to spend the Day with Mom, and so far everything is coming along nicely. We are at about 33% so far, not too shabby, but summer is around the corner and I really love Summer. So I’m a little worried.

A little recap about us- I just turned 40, work for The City, in an Emergency Service Position, which I hate by the way, way too stressful and chaotic . I love to read, watch movies and I’m big into Sci-fi. I love the out-doors, hiking and playing VolleyBall and Tennis and I’m completely devoted to my Wonderful Family (in other words , no social Life, hahahah).

The Twins are Extraordinary Boys who love to play baseball, football, ride their bikes all over town and enjoy hanging out with their old Uncle. Their Favorite Characters are Aragorn and Legolas, you will have to pull up an old post to read why.

This Summer is going to be very long and there will be few and far between posts, as there won’t be too much to talk about. I will try and make updates as much as I can. But I don’t want to inundate the reader with nothing to say, But Maybe soon I will write about my Favorite character too , and the reason why the Book and then the Movie are such an inspiration to my life, and how they have influenced my life. Believe me that story is an Eye Opener.  ‘ till next time Namarie   

Max

It’s official,, Report cards came out today. Timmy made B Honor Roll with all A’s and just 1 B, in English.  And Thomas made the A Honor Roll with straight A’s, Congratulations boys, I’m so proud of you. You are really working hard to make our trip a reality. Nice Job

Max 

This Post and The Trip have provided the Twins and I with more chances to bond and to learn from mistakes made, as well as each other. One example of that Is, What exactly to say in the Post. In an earlier post I explained that I thought it would be a good idea to tell everyone who their favorite character is, why the love the movies etc. etc. Lately, the Boys have shared some of their reading material and what they thought of what they were reading. Nice and interesting, if I say so. but sometimes lessons have a way of popping up, when we least expect it. Case in point. 12 yoa boys , no matter who they are, where they live or How wonderful they are, don’t exactly want to share every thought, with absolute honesty. They do have egos, believe it or not. And I expect, they don’t want to feel less than what they are. Obviously, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. But Kids don’t have the life experience we do.   I believe in Truthfulness in literature, whether it’s fiction or non fiction. regardless of the Genre. I don’t want to be lied to. PERIOD.  The Lord of the Rings is a great example of that, I think. Yes it’s Fantasy, but each character acts and reacts as honestly as they can, in the context of where they are and what is happening in the story, How they react to each other and the environment, they are in, is incredibly honest and truthful. Also, I believe Tolkien wrote it, from an honest point of view, with integrity and with incredibley honest intentions, so that we the reader, could understand our own humanity! Read it, I DARE you to prove me wrong! I challenge anyone!! I explained this to The Boys and told them that they could express themselves however they wanted. With very little editing from me. As long as it was Truthful and Honest, no one will criticize, or make fun of them, speak your Truth from your heart, because we as readers would only respect them all the more!!!! Max
Namarie

Hello there,,

     Many people asked what the temperature will be, when the boys and I are in Nz. So I found a nice site, which tells the temp in celsius and fahrenheit for us Americans,, New zealand Climate. I am praying that It is unseasonally warm that time of the year, since I want to be able to enjoy the weather and the outdoors,, We also want to enjoy all the activities Middl- Earth and NZ have to offer,,,The shire should be green and overflowing, if it’s not I will be so disappointed.  

Namarie,

Max

Both Timmy and Tommy won awards today at school,, Timmy won outstanding student in Language Arts. Tommy Won outstanding student in Science. Both were The #1 student in those subjects!!!! Fantastic Job boys!! See what you can do, when you set your mind to it!! Great Job. I am so proud of you !!!! Max

Hello There,,

             I guess it really is official now,, Spoke to Jill from Relaxing Journeys, and all accomodations have been made and finalized.  I had to put money down to reserve a place for us on the tour. Final tally for the Tour alone is $10,800 NZ, which turns out to be $7,308.17US. Not too bad considering we will have 12 days in Middle-Earth. I sent my down payment today to reserve our places $750 NZ = $504 US. Now I need to get my butt moving on the rest of the money, and the airfare, which is going to be monumental,,, Namarie 

Max

   How much does a Dream cost? This is a question I have asked myself quite a few times these last few months. Ever since I decided to take the Boys to New Zealand, We have encountered 1 hurtle after another. First, since NZ is on the other side of the world, I had to try and get a furlo (Vacation) pick, in April, which would’ve corresponded with early Fall in NZ and also when the Boys had Easter break. That didn’t happen, I don’t have the seniority, I was out bid. The best I could get was October, which is early spring, hopefully it won’t be a wet spring.  That was a blow that took some time getting over, But The Boys have such a positive attitude, they figured it would give us more time to save money and more chances for me to work overtime.  Overtime is a huge hurtle for me, becuase, i’m personally very lazy,  I really enjoy my free time, and any time away from work is well spent. But money is definitely a Huge hurtle.  I just didn’t realize How huge a hurtle, until pricing everything With Jill From Relaxing Journeys, This is going to set me back!!  Don’t misunderstand, I always knew it was going to cost a lot, but this is crazy. For the Tour alone, it is costing $7,600 US for the 3 of  us, for 12 days! Now add into that the air fare, that is going to set me back almost $6,000 US, I almost feinted !!! But this dream has become a Passion, A chance in a lifetime, to step outside one’s life and do something out of the ordinary.  As I write this,the Olympics are on, I’m listening to Athletes from all over the World, talk about the Goal for Gold, and all the hurtles and injuries it took for them to achieve their Goal.  This then has become our Goal, our Dream. Anything less isn’t good enough. It’s All in God’s Hands, we can only do our best, and keep our eyes on the Gold.    MAX

About 2 wks ago, I emailed a question to the editor of Agent of Travel, A column in the Chicago Sun-Times Travel section. Today, the answer to that question was published. In summary, I asked whether or not there were special papers, aside from the pre-requisite passports, that I needed to take with me, that allows me, as The Twins Uncle, not their Guardian, to leave the country.  The Editor Lisa Lenoir responded with  more information than I could have hoped for. No special papers needed, she also provided plenty of other information.  The books she recommended, I already have, but she also provided flight information, info on immunizations and also websites we could visit to get even more information.  The boys were so excited, they jumped on their bikes in a snowstorm to ride to the nearest store to buy the paper. The full story is available on The Sun-times website.   Another hurtle down,,,,,,  Max 11 Feb 06 15:05 hrs

The Twins,

Timothy and Thomas are both 12, about average hobbit height, (I’m sure they can tell us their exact ht, but off hand I don’t know it), above average students, (they must get A honor roll to go on this Voyage) , both of whom love baseball, skateboarding,Ping Pong, riding their bikes around town and playing video games. Thomas is now taking after me and learning to play the Piano, he is a quick learner, and Timmy is a beautiful Artiste, he is perfecting his sketching and drawing abilities. Both boys are kind and considerate (ask any who meet them)and very polite and respectful. I have asked them to jot down some ideas on several topics , so they can share their thoughts with everyone. They asked me what kind of topics. I suggested several. Why the want to go to NZ, who their favorite character was, why they love the movies/books (both are reading the Hobbit now), why i’m the greatest person in the world, hahaha kidding, and so in the ensuing months, between trips to get our passports, me working overtime, them doing extra credit at school etc etc, They will be posting their ideas, I think also its a good idea for me to write my thoughts on those related topics. For Now Namarie

Max

Some people have suggested to me to post bio’s of me and the boys, to allow everyone to get to know us better,, Good idea,, so here goes

Max-age 39-soon to be 30 yoa, love to Read, love to travel, volleyball, tennis and being in the outdoors and especially enjoy my family,and friends, w/o whose support and love makes this all possible, I do want to thank some people who have pushed me all the way ,,
Dad-my Rock of Gibralter
My INYA TRINITY
Mom- The Love of MY Life
Shelly-The Light of my Life, my Guardian Angel who always takes care of me, she has given me the greatest Gifts.
Carrie- My Veronda Er, former Dance Partner extroardinaire, always supportive.
Sue C-My Mell’on , and my Editor, who always reads everything first, All criticism are positive and accepted,
Thanks to all my friends and Co-workers, most of whom are friends now, who have given me a kind word and encouragement…. alasse’ ar’ mela e’ coia
Max