Kia Ora!

Hope you all celebrated a lovely Thanksgiving, with plenteous leftovers, great family moments, and a break from work/school/whatever. Wow, December already? I wasn't really in the mood for the green and red Christmas decorations following Halloween. I'm usually festive, but I guess I feel Thanksgiving should get more credit than it does. The fact that people were sitting outside stores on the Tuesday night before irks me. I feel like they totally missed the purpose of this holiday, where we take one day out of the year to reflect on being thankful and unselfish. Ironically, Black Friday is the opposite, yet affiliated with it (why you wanna shop at 4am anyway is beyond me...). When I first heard “Happy Turkey Day” years ago, I thought it was really cute, but then my mum pointed out that it takes away what we should be reminded of. It's also a prejudice statement, as some people don't even eat turkey. Anyway, my family usually goes around the table each year taking turns stating what we're thankful for. Well, this year, I'm thankful I consider my [immediate] family to also be my great friends. That wasn't always the case, and it feels amazing to have them on "my" side. Makes life easier when you get along too, doesn't it? Finished my evening with late-night pie snacking and a big round of Scattergories – such a fun game!

Ok, so I didn't exactly want to start on a note about Thanksgiving, and you're probably still subconsciously wondering what "Kia Ora" means... or why my blog is called Nekkid Kiwi! I've been wanting to blog for some time now, and had a hard time coming up with a title. Working titles like "Tuesdays with Norrie" was an option but I felt it wasn't original (plus I wanna blog more than just Tuesdays).

Q&A:

Why do you want to blog? I want to improve my writing, similar to what freewriting does. I love writing, and my brother suggested I start one like his roommate did, and his roommate reaped the benefits of it. I also get to know myself better by pondering and contemplating issues for the sake of jotting them down later to share (like my journal, but that's not meant for sharing); I get to form opinions, keep an open mind (it was pretty closed growing up), and let people get to know me via cyberspace

Why "Nekkid Kiwi"? Because I'm kiwi and I'm usually naked... just kidding (I am Kiwi though). Like a peeled fruit exposing its juicy insides to the world, is me Brenda, being vulnerable and revealing my juicy thoughts and opinions to you.

What does Kia Ora mean? Pronounced key-ah-or-rah, it's a form of greeting New Zealanders say and should know. Was derived from the Maori language originally meaning “be well and healthy.” I've eskimo-kissed a Maori chief while saying this!

BTW, feel free to comment on my posts. More about me later – I didn't want to crowd my first blog :-)