Missing in Action

I had every intention of blogging on Friday night, but circumstances beyond my control put an end to my intentions.

It was a very busy Friday in the shop, but I was able to leave soon after 3pm and do a little grocery shopping before riding home.

I sat down for a snack which I hoped would absorb the little alcohol that I planned on drinking at the club and then made myself presentable for the evening.

Adoring Husband dropped me at the club, which was packed with tournament bowlers from out of town. This made the environment very loud and incredibly unpleasant - impossible to have a reasonable conversation and the poker machine room was the quietest place available. For most of the evening, even that room was busy enough that poker machine space was at a premium.

The service in all areas of the club was very slow because there were new staff working the drinks and keno bars and there were just too many patrons lining up to be served.

A number of small irritating things happened that prevented me from getting my weekly raffle tickets or reaching my table of friends. By the time I got to the table, the raffle was almost over and it was time to leave.

At least Adoring Husband had already prepared most of our dinner and all I had to do was make myself a small salad to have with the protein. There was just enough time to eat before I received the 'go ahead' to call my sister for our pre-arranged phone date.

I made the call at 8pm from my bedroom and AH interrupted it at 11pm declaring that he couldn't wait any longer and was coming to bed!

By that time, I was absolutely ready for bed, so even though I considered writing a quick blog post, I chose to sleep instead.

Adoring Husband had a busy day too!

This was our lounge room while he strengthened our DVD wall unit. He is a man of many talents.

Today (Saturday) was very busy in the shop and The Motivator and I ordered lots of new stock, rearranged the storage area and cleared the meditation room ready for Monday.

After work, my afternoon was filled with a movie called "Gifted" which I loved, some football, preparing two weeks worth of dog food, crumbing (with almond meal) and cooking some Snapper fillets for dinner, more football and now blogging.

Now I'm off to bed so that I can wake up to some fresh coffee in the morning!

Nite all.  

Dang

It's late and I'm tired so I'm posting this video that I've been holding for a while now, to share on an occasion just like this one.

If you're keen, there are follow on videos after this, with more info about mercury poisoning and detoxification.



We had a big day in the shop unpacking new stock and rearranging the displays in half of the shop. I don't know about The Motivator, but I'm exhausted!

I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Queenslander!

It's State of Origin time again!

Personally, I feel like flopping into the bed and sleeping for 48 hours but I will attempt to remain awake for at least the first half of the game.

I couldn't even find the energy to make myself presentable and attend the club with friends tonight.

Ugh.

We had a big day at the shop. It was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday and people seemed to be very happy and chatty for such a chilly day.

In a matter of weeks, we've changed from using the air con to cool the shop to using it for warming it. The training room and the treatment room seem to be much cooler than the remainder of the shop so while I was sitting at my desk fanning myself to cool down, The Motivator and The Gypsy were shivering with cold at the back.

We might need to follow that up.

There is no more news to report.

Well, maybe there is, but I'm too tired to think.

I thought this was pretty spot on!!

The Gypsy is holding this free one day retreat in The Bay on 24th June. I think it will be fabulous, but it's filling fast so if you're interested in participating, you need to make contact now!

On that note, I'm off. My pillow is calling me.

Nite all.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

It's off to work we go.

I was excited to get back to work and it was coffee morning with the girls which was a bonus!

There were seven of us giggling (and snorting) and story telling and there were even a few tears this morning. Time flies when you're having fun so it was after 11.30am when The Motivator and I were left alone in the shop.

We had a steady flow of customers all day and in the breaks, we spent time talking business, going over numbers, discussing our future, reflecting on how far we've come, taking pride in our achievement and tidying up a few loose ends.

We were so involved in these discussions, that a delivery of new stock arrived and we didn't even open the box! So we can look forward to unpacking a new range of stock and finding somewhere to display it tomorrow.

I would have stayed late at the shop today because I loved being there, but I remembered that our monthly barbecue at the Lions Park was this evening so I packed up and rushed home to make a roast pumpkin, pine nut and spinach salad to take along with us.

We had some special guests at the barbecue tonight. Rebel Mardi and The Lifesaver are in town for a few days and joined us for a big catch up. It was sooooooo good to see them but their time had to be shared between many many people - I think there were twenty of us there. There will be more opportunities in the coming days.

The food was pretty amazing at the barbecue too. There was potato salad, potato bake, lentil and beetroot salad, asparagus mornay, zucchini slice, kale chips, corn on the cob and my pumpkin/pine nut/spinach salad. I felt like my stomach was going to explode before I'd even finished. I think my eyes were too big for my belly!

Just a minute ago, it was 9.50pm and suddenly it's 11.25pm! How the heck did that happen?

Must go to sleep now.

Nite all.

The Finale of Chicklet's Holiday

Before we left the house, we fulfilled the time capsule promise from yesterday ...

It was another nine hour day on the road.

Chicklet was pretty amazing on the long four hour trip to the airport.

She was completely silent for the first hour.

I gave her my phone to play games for the next two hours.

The final hour was much more animated. Knowing that we were getting closer to Mama, she became very talkative and loud and silly.

We found Mama easily and Chicklet ran to her bubbling with excitement. We hung around for about 30 or 40 minutes making small talk while she transitioned and then we said our goodbyes and left quickly, to avoid dramas.

Mama had already been at the airport for six hours and still had another three hours to fill until their flight to Melbourne. All up, she was in transit for more than 47 hours but Chicklet was well behaved and the remainder of the trip was not as bad as it could have been.

Our drive home was uneventful.

The roads were clear and we made three stops. One for a GF Beefy's pie just north of Brisbane, while Adoring Husband made a phone call.  One for fuel and some bottled water.  One for AH to grab some meat from the Tiaro Butcher for dinner, while I checked out the Hippie Shop.

I can't believe how smoothly everything went when we arrived home!

We (and by 'we' I mean AH) fed the dogs and the chooks and fired up the barbecue to cook his steak while I made up a big salad to accompany it. I heated up my bone broth and sat quietly in the lounge room to enjoy it.

No standing in the kitchen for an hour while 'somebody' took their time eating dinner.

No sitting on my mini stool in the bathroom playing fishing games in the bathtub for thirty minutes with a certain 'somebody'.

No thirty minute cuddle and chat time with that 'somebody' before bed.

No convincing that little 'somebody' that it was time to sleep now.

I got to watch my TV show while it was actually airing instead of recording it and watching it later.

I'm doing this blog post right now so that I can go to bed early and get some sleep.

I've already ironed my clothes for work tomorrow and have a 'to do' list written up for my first day back.

Oh! Today, I took a phone call from a customer booking herself and a friend into my photography workshop on 16th/17th June. She's coming in tomorrow to sign and pay. This means that I have five in my next class with another three possibles.

Love it.

I also received a message from Number One Son asking if we were free for the week beginning 15th June so that he can visit! Hopefully, that will actually happen. Watch this space!

Thanks for listening.

Bed time for me.

Nite all.

Day Twenty Four of Chicklet Holiday

One more sleep and the holiday is over.

Her bag is packed and she's ready to go. Mama is mid flight on her way to Brisvegas on a fifteen hour flight.

We tried to finish off all of our projects today.

I finished my cave. Chicklet fiddle farted around doing bits and pieces and took about three hours to do a page of stencil dragons to put into the time capsule - complaining loudly when it had gone dark outside and we were unable to bury the time capsule as planned.

It will be a quick job in the morning before we leave.

We had a lot of fun at bath time. Full of giggles and silliness and then some extended pre-bedtime cuddles with the psychotic dogs and chat time.

I think we are both suffering bitter sweetness at the moment. Sad to be leaving each other but excited about getting our lives back. Chicklet is most excited about seeing Mama and I am most excited about getting a full night's sleep!

Out of the twenty five nights that she has been here, she came into our room approximately fifteen nights to wake me. It was usually between 2am-3am and I would get out of bed, follow her back to her room and lay beside her while she fell asleep, which was generally instant, and then I would return to my own bed. A couple of nights she woke me 2 or 3 times.

No big deal, but broken sleep is not my friend and I've struggled to be 100% 'present' on the days that follow her restless nights.

I adore her - there have been moments when we didn't like each other very much - but overwhelmingly, there has been love overload. She is a treasure that lights my soul and melts my heart to the extreme.

I will miss my little Chicklet and I hope we made some lasting memories that she can treasure in her future.

Nite all.