27 Hours Full

What a jam-packed period of 27 hours it was!

My alarm woke me at 4.30am on Friday morning.

I had intended to wash and blow dry my hair on Thursday afternoon/evening to save time, but that didn't happen so I had to set my alarm an hour earlier than planned so that I could do that before we left at 6am.

I also hadn't packed my overnight bag, so that had to be figured into my preparation time too.

Adoring Husband was kind enough to purchase my morning coffee and was home just before The Motivator arrived to pick me up. Thank goodness!

There was only a slight glitch in our plans ... when I realised, before we'd left my street, that I didn't have my ticket to the event we were attending.

Ugh.

So, we returned to the house ... luckily we caught Adoring Husband as he was leaving because I also didn't have my key to get in!! I grabbed my key and searched for the ticket to no avail.

We drove to the shop and I found the ticket inside the daily planner.

This meant that we left town about 20 minutes later than planned. It wasn't a problem because we had hours to spare before the event so that we could drop into IKEA beforehand.

It was a smooth, uneventful trip to North Lakes and we parked outside the IKEA lifts before 9.30am.

We knew exactly what we were looking for and were pretty efficient with our time and our searching - except for that 20 minutes when we stopped to discuss rearranging the displays and lounge area in the shop - that set us back.

I kept an eye on the time and announced every 15 minutes how much time we had to spare.

With 30 minutes left on the clock, we arrived at the storage area where we had to locate the aisle and shelf position for each item we had on our list. We had two trolleys full of boxes by the time we reached the self serve checkout.

I scanned my personal purchases and The Motivator scanned hers, then together we rushed through the shop items, restacked them on the trolleys, finished paying and rushed to the lifts.

Twelve minutes til we had to leave the carpark and we were clearing out the back of the car and laying down the seats, stacking everything in as compactly and efficiently as possible.

Six minutes remaining and I changed my top in the middle of the carpark!! Can you believe that!? The Motivator changed her bottoms in the middle of the carpark!!

I ran back to the shopping centre to purchase some sushi because we weren't going to be anywhere near food before we would be sitting for two hours with empty bellies at the event. The Motivator ran to the nearest bathroom to change her top and freshen her make up.

We left the carpark four minutes later than planned.

Thanks to The Motivator, we turned left instead of right as we drove out of the carpark. That lost us two minutes.

Thanks to me, we took another wrong turn at a set of traffic lights and by the time we found somewhere to turn around, it meant we lost another four minutes.

We arrived at the location of the event and it took us five minutes to find a parking space. We were rushing into the cinema complex, where the event was being held, five minutes after it was supposed to start!

We were seating ourselves in the event seven minutes late, but Denise Duffield Thomas had only begun to speak about two minutes earlier.

Talk about a close call!

It was a value packed seminar and over so quickly! We stood in a queue to meet Denise, chatting with a lovely young lady and then briefly talked to Denise and got this ...

The Motivator and I slowed down a bit and began to wander the Westfield Shopping Centre. We stopped at 'Secrets' Jewellers and The Motivator found a ring that she liked, got some information about it and we decided we needed coffee.

We shared a couple of small GF slices and drank some delicious coffee while we chatted about the event and talked about the shop.

We returned to 'Secrets' where I found a beautiful ring that I decided would be the perfect ten year anniversary gift from Adoring Husband. So I put the ring details on a wish list and told them that I would get Adoring Husband to call them some time in the future to discuss purchasing said ring

😁🤪😍

The Sheridan outlet in Aspley was our next stop, which was a 12 minute drive from Westfield. I purchased a set of bath towels. Their original price was $99 for the pair and I paid $36 for the pair! I also bought AH a beach towel at 60% off. Don't you love a good bargain?!

We scoured an outdoor centre for bar settings and then spent some time in Freedom Furniture. I love that shop, but found nothing that we need in there.

It took us an hour to drive to the motel that I had booked us into and we arrived there just after 6pm. At 6.30pm we went in search of some food. We were both exhausted and didn't want to travel too much further so we discovered, just around the corner from our motel, the Woombye Pub.

It had a great little restaurant and we enjoyed Crunchy Crackle Pork Belly with kipfler potatoes, broccolini and blueberry jus. We had a beverage each and shared a dessert of pavlova. The staff were lovely and the food was fabulous, but we were exhausted and were back at the room by 8pm.

The motel's free wifi was pathetically slow so we didn't get to play online or do any work related activities as planned ... probably a good thing because our brains were mush by then anyway.

Our room had two queen beds so it was lovely to really spread out and I slept soundly all night. The motel was right on a main road, but the noise was minimal and the bed was sooooo comfortable.

We woke early the next morning and were on the road a little after 6.30am. AH was opening the shop for us so that we didn't have to stress about being right on time.

He did a great job taking care of the shop while we were away, without too many hiccups, and it was nice that so many people cared enough to check in on him, provide him with fresh coffee and deliver some food. He is well loved and respected I think.

The Motivator worked today and I returned home with AH. 

I planned on creating some art, but ended up in bed at 12.30pm and slept for more than three hours! 

That 27 hours wore me out!

It's almost 10.30pm and I think I might return to bed now. The art can wait til tomorrow.

Nite all.  

A Good Day at the Office

It was a good day at the shop and I gave Adoring Husband some training because he is manning the shop for the first time, on his own, tomorrow, while The Motivator and I spend the day in Brisbane attending a seminar.

I hope we are set up well enough that he will manage ok. I have faith in him but since the shop has been run by The Motivator and I for almost two years and we know the 'ins' and 'outs' and are not set up for somebody else to come in and easily see how things work, it might make things tricky for him.

BUT it won't be the end of the world if it gets tricky. He will do his best and we will be grateful for that.

It's going to be a good day!

We are excited about our seminar.

We are excited about another visit to IKEA.

We are excited about not having to drive all the way home after the seminar and will be staying overnight in Nambour.

We are excited about having 24 hours of girl time together.

So I guess I should get some sleep since I'm being picked up at 6am!

I hope that some of you girls will go visit AH to check that he is ok during the day!

Have a happy Friday.

Nite all.

Art for Art's Sake

Adoring Husband drove into The Bay this morning.

I got out of bed late and opted to NOT attend meditation today. I also opted to NOT attend the lady's luncheon.

I think I'm a bit 'peopled' out this past week and needed some quiet alone time inside my own head for a while.

I decided to get arty farty.

I was still playing with my art when AH reminded me about this being the first Wednesday of the month.

It signals trivia at the club and our usual group of five came fifth out of eleven teams. Not as good as last month, but we did win one round ... we actually tied with three other teams for that round, but we got the closest correct year for the 'decider' question which was ... "What year was Albert Einstein born?"

None of us knew the correct answer, but I guessed 1887. He was born in 1879. We won a bag of lollies.

Now it's almost 10.30pm and I'm working tomorrow, so I'd like to get some sleep now.

It's been a nice day and I'm looking forward to being in The Happy Abode tomorrow.

Nite all.

Quick Hello

It's late and there is not much to tell about today.

Coffee with the girls this morning and then The Motivator and I sat down and ordered some clothes, hats and bags to sell in the shop.

We met with the man who does pyrography on cheese boards, bread boards and lazy Susans but declined his request for us to sell his goods in the shop.

His work is very good, but we would then be in competition with Burrum Traders and we try to avoid that when possible. I purchased a lazy Susan from him on the spot and we'll display his business card in the shop.

He and his wife were lovely people.

Tonight I've booked some accommodation on the Sunshine Coast for Friday night so that The Motivator and I won't be driving for 4 hours to Brisbane, attending a seminar for a couple of hours, stopping at IKEA and then driving 4 hours home all in one hit.

We'll leave early on Saturday morning to reach home before 9am and open the shop.

Now I need to sleep. My intention was to attend meditation in the morning but I think I'll stay at home and have a lazy morning. I'd like to spend the day at home.

Enough of this frivolity.

Nite all.

Crazy? Maybe.

I had a fabulous day today!

I wish every day was so good!

Adoring Husband drove me to work because I didn't wake up until 7.50am! He helped me open the shop, as he does. What a man.

The Gypsy was in-house today and we each had verbal diarrhoea between her customers. It's been a couple of weeks since we were together in the shop and she wasn't booked out with clients, so there was plenty to catch up on.

There was only one customer ALL day, but it was one hell of a customer! I am still gobsmacked!

The Motivator came for a quick visit and spread some love.

AH came at 2.35pm, bought our afternoon coffee, chatted for a little while before helping me close the shop, as he does. He's still the man!

We came home and sat for a little while in the pool area.

We watched a movie called 'Suburbicon' which was very very weird.

I cooked a butterflied lamb with roast veg and gravy for dinner.

It's now 9.20am and I'm off to bed for an early night so that I can be bright eyed and bushy tailed for coffee with the girls in the morning.

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Nite all.

Done and Dusted

Adoring Husband and I started very early this morning.

I had fifteen ladies coming for a Nutrimetics party in the pool area at 2pm.

We drove to the shop to pick up five chairs and a couple of plastic drinking vessels.

We had to go to the supermarket to grab a few more items for my food preparations.

We rearranged the furniture under the Bali hut and added some little tables and chairs and a bigger table with table cloths.

We vacuumed all the grass and dirt from the ground around the pool and under the hut.

We set up the tea and coffee corner in the outdoor kitchen.

We set out all the plastic wine glasses and tumblers.

We filled the metal tub with ice and some bottles of wine.

We baked cupcakes and iced them.

We made two platters with cabanossi, cheeses, grapes, raspberries, sun-dried tomatoes, carrot sticks, pickles, dips and crackers.

We filled a container with grapes, raspberries and slices of watermelon,

We made a dip with avocado, creamed cheese, capsicum, shallots, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

We made a jug of margarita mix.

We made a jug of alcohol free punch.

We filled a bowl with chips.

We cleaned the bathroom.

We vacuumed the floors.

We did two loads of washing.

We mowed a small section of front yard.

Aggie arrived while I was still in the shower so AH showed her to the pool area and she began setting up before I joined her.

Everybody else arrived on time and found a seat while I managed to provide a few drinks until I had to take my seat ready for a facial!

A few of the ladies joined in and either gave themselves a facial or gave the person beside them one.  There was a bit of giggling going on and I felt quite naked being with so many people and not a skerrick of makeup on my tired old face.

I must say that my face didn't 'feel' so tired and old after the facial!

While everybody made their orders, I brought all the food out, refreshed some drinks, waded in the pool, chatted with a few ladies, went right into the pool - only three other ladies brought their swimmers but they all went in.

I wanted to sit with the girls and have a chat, but Aggie asked me to sit with her while she calculated my sales and then I had to go through the catalogues to select my purchases. I got $200 worth of products for $100 plus I received a $50 voucher which I spent on bronzer and soap.

It was a pretty successful day for Aggie AND for me. The ladies had a good time and Aggie was driving away just after 5.30pm.

It didn't take long for AH and I to clear most of the pool area. I washed all the dishes and AH brought the shop chairs into the house so that he can return them tomorrow. I cleaned the outdoor kitchen and AH vacuumed (and by 'vacuumed', I mean 'ate') almost all of the leftover food.

We didn't have any dinner.

Now, I am exhausted. It's time for sleep. I am working tomorrow.

Nite all.