When Patrick met ... well ... Me!

Well yes I have fallen under the spell of Patrick Alick Tafunai, and he and I are engaged to be married in October 09. For those of you who are thinking, who is Patrick. How can he be this lucky? Ha ha. Well we met six years ago (apparently he knew right from the start - but then he is quite bright and I am pretty irresistable) but it wasn't good timing for me cos I was ... ah ... pregnant with Oliver and breaking up with his dad so yeah another man was really off the menu ...

ANYWAY, we kept in touch, and when I went back to Samoa at the end of last year, we started hanging out again and while I was thinking how come Pat doesnt have a girlfriend cos he's a great guy, he was thinking, I'm going to have crack her coconut head otherwise she'll never see I'm in love with her. So he ended up asking me if I'd be into a Long-Distance Relationship (doesnt that sound like a cocktail) and after I politely asked him to pull the car over so I could throw up the litre of Bombay Sapphire I had drunk that night, I said yes. Yep, I'm still flash... But I did say yes again, two days later in a sssssober and ssssserious coversation. And from there, Cupid cracked my coconut and I fell in love with this wonderful, charming, gorgeous, gush gush, man and we decided that we want to spend the rest of lives together.

And get this, he thinks it's cute that I am forgetful. Although he hasn't had to deal with my habitual lateness, which I am now soooo good at that I don't even have to practice. But he is also really forgiving. Yay!! Not that he will to forgive his beautiful wife much ... yeah right. So Patrick, like every half Samoan/half Fijian and little bit of Irish man should, went and asked Dad if he could marry his daughter. And dad, said come back in two days (yep that's where I get it from), where Dad consulted the Oracle (mum) and the Princess (me, not Elaine Momoan) and FINALLY gave his approval. And right now, Dad and Pat are in Samoa and Mum and I are in Christchurch. Sigh. Although Oliver and I are off to Samoa in three weeks time. Then in August, Patrick is coming here for three weeks and then our little family will go back to Samoa for an Ifopo mini-reunion. And now it looks like, my honey may be coming for two months in November. Go Patrick Go Patrick ...

So if you are in Chch, you'll get to meet him and taste his wonderful cooking (he's a chef. yay!!) If you live elsewhere in the South Island, I'm prepared to tour him for a small fee and accommodation, okay just accommodation will do.

So now that you know our mini love story, hopefully some of you will be joining us for our wedding. (I'll be the gorgeous one with the silly happy grin, he'll be the handsome one with his arms around me). And of course I will also understand it if you can't make it cos ... um a house fell out of the sky and landed on your foot, your wife is stuck on Big Brother and needs you to be there when she gets voted out, or you're in the top three of the International So You Think You Can Dance competition. But just so you know, only the aforementioned excuses will be considered. ... Okay Okay I will love you just the same if you cant come and yes of course, Patrick and I will love to host you when you visit Samoa (after our 5-year-honeymoon that is).

Okay that's all from me now. Sorry for the group email thing, but really renovating a house, building another house in a different country, raising a 5-year-old giant, being a good daughter, a sensational mum, a forgetful sister, a lyrical writer, and a fabulous fiancee all at the same time takes its toll. Nah! not really, I'm just lazy. Oh, and just so you know, parts of this email have been edited to make events appear more exciting than they actually are - but I thought you'd appreciate that.