Two years ago this was my day. It seems a lifetime ago and the pre-earthquake world has faded to the point it seems as much dream as memory. There are many things we are used to - road works, displaced schools, shops in shipping containers - but very little which could be construed as normal. This time two years ago I could not have imagined how long everything would take. I would not have believed that parts of town would still be closed, that many people would still be living in broken homes with insurance claims unsettled or that school would still be in temporary premises on the wrong side of town. We are a city of tired, cross people who are rapidly running out of resiliency. In amongst all the grimness there is still beauty, wonder and goodness and, by some miracle, our little family is managing to be happy quite a lot of the time but sometimes it takes a herculean effort to see a bright side.