Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Shorter...

... and sweeter.

It's 7.30pm and I can't stop yawning!

I was home by 1pm today.

Our little girl, Jessie, came to say goodbye before she and her parents headed back to the Gold Coast and she gave us both a hug and thanked us. She was such a little sweetie.

Her Dad, a self professed healer, gave us some advice about cleansing our training area before we begin our courses.

Our morning was quiet in the shop and we probably had about 15 people through the door. Three of them were there to ask about crab.

We had some great conversations and met some new locals.

We received a phone call from a lady whose transactions didn't go through our reader on Monday, and this means that we have now received ALL the money from my big mistake that day. It's comforting to know that people are so honest.

Lady Lynn, Happy Harry, Beauty, The Beast, Stands With a Fist and The Chief all came for a quick visit. It was the boys' first visit, so I showed them around. I'm really happy that they came!

Sadly, I watched my team lose their finals footy game last night and I doubt that I'll be able to stay awake for the entirety of tonight's game, but I hope the Cowboys win.

I'm writing this on my iPad tonight and the battery is almost flat, so this is me signing off!

It's been a big week and my energy is low, so ...

Nite all

Friday, September 22, 2017

Short ...

... and sweet.

It's after 11pm and I'm exhausted.

I can hear my bed and my pillows calling me.

We had another great day. Lots of town visitors came in for a look, all saying that someone had told them about the shop, so word is spreading fast.

Well, maybe not that fast ... we've been open for three weeks now.

We are both brain dead and worn out, working 6 days a week over the holiday period. I'm not used to working at all and The Motivator's hours have been sporadic and planned to suit her needs, so neither of us were prepared for the mental and physical tiredness that we are experiencing.

We'll get over it.

Need to work harder at self care and improve my eating habits, otherwise my energy levels will fade into nothingness and I will make myself sick.

I've got this.

Nite all.




Thursday, September 21, 2017

Berry Berry Tired

It's been a BIG day.

A busy day at work, followed by a trip into The Bay.

We attempted to pick up some stock that was supposed to arrive from Maryborough, only to discover that the order hadn't been followed up by the young girl The Motivator had spoken to, so the stock has probably gone now.

Two shops that we wanted to pick up some plastic bags from, were both closed, so that was a futile exercise.

We then had to choose from two signs that we've been offered by Stocklands. We made our choice and now have to bide our time to see if we actually receive them.

Then we went shopping for work clothes.

THAT was a lot of fun. I may have got a bit carried away, in fact, we BOTH may have.

The thing is ... my wardrobe is full of clothes, but few of them are really suitable for work ... especially now that the weather is warming up. I have lots of singlet tops and shorts, but few dressy Summery clothes.

So today, I remedied that situation.

We bought some of the same clothes, so there will be days we MAY turn up in an unintentional uniform! But that's ok.

By the time we hopped in the car to drive home, at around 8pm, we were both exhausted. It's now 10.30 and I'm off to bed, completely worn out.

Here is some more of our lovely stock from the shop.





Nite all.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Humpety Hump Day

How lucky that we've been able to locate three of the four people whose transactions didn't go through our card reader properly yesterday!

It means that we are only $27 down now. We can live with that.

We had an incredibly busy day today. We met some interesting people and our patience was stretched a touch by one or two of them. The Little Mermaid was feeling and sounding fiery. We sold a lot of Cenzoni handbags, including one that I thought would never sell!

Luckily, another delivery of Cenzoni bags arrived in purple and black - they seem to be very popular colours.

I sold another photo! Woot! Woot!




I left the shop at 5pm after I'd priced my new photos, answered some freaky phone calls - prerecorded messages that were set to play when I answered the phone - one of them wouldn't allow me to hang up until it finished (I pressed the button to hang up and nothing happened)!!

I served a late customer and then packed up to go home.

I got about a third of the way home and then had this uneasy feeling that the back door to the shop was unlocked, so I turned around and rode back to the shop. When I tested the door, sure enough, it was unlocked!! 

It can't be locked from the outside, so I had to unlock the front door, walk through the shop, lock it from the inside and then leave through the front door again. 

I rode home and as I pulled into the garage, I realised that I'd left the cash box behind, so Adoring Husband drove me back to the shop to get it.

I seem to spend a lot of time back tracking these days!

I made an easy dinner of crispy skinned chicken and salad and that was it for me.

It's now 10pm and I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

I Did a Woopsie

It's been a big day full of learning experiences and fun.

Learning how to use our card reader for transactions, I made a mistake and accidentally gave away $75 worth of purchases. That was a big whoopsie.

We've figured it out now, so there won't be any more mistakes. Ugh.

I've set up my new email for the business ... if you want to contact me for any 'Happy Abode' business, my email is roz@thehappyabode.com

Adoring Husband picked up my photos from the framer and they all look fantastic, so tomorrow, I'll be pricing them and figuring out how and where to display them.

We've received almost all of our stock now and have rearranged some displays to fit everything in while trying to avoid the 'cluttered' look. I think we've done well, though it's always fun rearranging displays, so they'll probably happen often.

There were a lot of customers today. Tourists as well as some locals and also my girls who came for coffee all had a little fun shopping themselves.

The Little Mermaid made an appearance or two. The young girls came in once and bought a button.

I did have a good night's sleep last night, but I am feeling very tired again tonight and it's almost 11pm, so I'm heading to bed right now.



Have a happy Wednesday!

Nite all.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Just Like Christmas

We had boxes and boxes of stock arrive today at the shop ... it was just like Christmas!

The term 'retail therapy' takes on a whole new meaning now.

Every box is full of smaller boxes and in every smaller box is a wonderful surprise!

We each buy stock separately and we both choose items that we would buy for ourselves and have in our own homes if money and space were unlimited. We also both have very different taste, which works out well because we know that our shop will appeal to different people.

I received a box of new snap button coin purses (the owl, the bird cages and the floral on bottom right) ...

... and here is a selection of other stock that came in, but these photos don't include the the stock that arrived right on closing time.












We had lots of tourists in our shop today, with lots of kids in tow. We had two young girls in the shop for most of the day because they love the shop and one of them wants to work for us when she's old enough to work!

The Little Mermaid made an appearance and we even had a few locals who only just found out that we are in existence ... all of whom said they would return when 1. they didn't have their husband in tow 2. after the grandkids go home 3. when they have more time to spend looking around.

All of them said "This is just what Burrum needs"

I get a thrill every time I hear those words and I know that The Motivator feels the same way.

I've been awake since 2.17am. 

I have no idea why I woke up or why I couldn't go back to sleep, but it's now 8pm and I'm feeling very very weary, so I believe that I will be in bed before 9pm and hopefully will sleep solidly all night.

I'm looking forward to coffee with the girls in the morning. After that we will probably spend the entire day pricing the new stock! Maybe we'll be so busy, we won't have time to price the new stock!

Anyway, that's enough from me.

Nite all.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Halfway There

It started as a lazy Sunday morning and I didn't get out of bed until 11am, which was just divine. I even did a little meditating before I rose, because I could feel my brain starting to work overtime - and I didn't want to think about work today.

I got dressed and Adoring Husband showed me what he had been up to - cleaning out the back bedroom, a lot of which was now in the family room for me to sort through, which I did in a half hearted fashion, after I had cleaned out the fridge.

My next chore was the main toilet and the bathroom.

Adoring Husband went to the fish and chip shop for our lunch, so I was only halfway through the bathroom when he returned with a late lunch. Grilled Barramundi with chips and salad. I made a delicious salad of asian greens, tomato, roasted capsicum, cucumber, mango, avocado, onion and feta cheese. It was perfect.

Once I sat down, it was going to take a miracle to get me back up, which did not occur, so the. bathroom is still not finished and I have a washing machine full of clothes to hang out. I guess my Sunday will have a busy end before bed.

This afternoon when AH decided to have a beer, he asked if I'd like a drink, but there was no vodka and no tonic water so we rummaged through the cupboards and found a small bottle of tequila, and a bottle of grenadine. Luckily there were some oranges in the fridge, so I juiced them and made a Tequila Sunrise!!

Quite enjoyable, but halfway through it, I realised that I had no desire for alcohol, so it seemed like a wasted effort. Ah well.

I've enjoyed sitting on the couch watching a marathon of Batman movies starting with the 1992 movie with Michael Keaton as Batman and followed by the 1995 Batman Forever with Val Kilmer as Batman. I lost interest when the George Clooney Batman started.

Now, I'm wondering how soon I can get to bed tonight so that I can be up bright and early to welcome the holiday crowds into the shop. Ha!




I am happy!

Nite all.