Another big day in the shop.
No sign of The Little Mermaid because she is out of action for a while.
It was a long eight hour shift because nobody came through the doors in the last two hours, but prior to that, there were a LOT of holiday-makers out and about and admiring The Happy Abode.
I had to order some hats today because we have two left! So that means unprecedented sales in lady’s wallets AND hats! We are also running very low in Intrinsic affirmation cards and I sold the last of the pink journals, so a call to Intrinsic is on the cards (pardon the pun) very shortly.
Adoring Husband and I met the first aid trainers at the pub for dinner tonight, but it was obvious that we were all tired and the energy at our table was very low. I have to say that one of the bar attendants needs a fire cracker up her butt because she was working in slow motion and just watching her from across the room sent my frustration levels through the roof!
It’s almost 9.30pm and I’m expecting a big Sunday at work, so it’s sleep time for me. Sadly, my footy team has lost tonight, so I’ll sleep my sorrows away.
Have a happy Sunday!
Nite all.
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Friday, April 6, 2018
Mindful Friday
The first 90 minutes of my day included three manic visits from The Little Mermaid, but after that, my day was filled with positive, happy people who filled The Happy Abode with fabulous energy and who made my work day very enjoyable.
I think the gale force winds literally blew everybody along the driveway to our door and they all walked in looking very windswept!
I worked the morning shift and The Motivator did the afternoon shift. Both of those shifts were equally busy, so we go to sleep smiling tonight.
It was necessary to order some more bags, purses and wallets today because it seems that everybody genuinely needed to replace their tattered and worn money holders this week. Unprecedented wallet and purse sales!
After such a big week, I was looking forward to a beverage at the club and spending time with the girls - even though there were only two of them there tonight. Babysitting duties, illness and holidays kept our numbers down, but Adoring Husband accompanied me tonight and between us, we were able to win 24 drinks.
The drinks can only be house wine or regular beer and since I don’t drink wine and Adoring Husband drinks lite beer, neither of us can use the prize, so we shared the cards with friends. It was still exciting the way I won it though and totally unexpected!
Now I must head to bed. My alarm told me to sleep over an hour ago, yet here I am! The Motivator has two days off, so I’ll be working full days over the weekend. This means that I need to be on the ball. It will be my turn to take time off next week.
Have a great weekend everybody!
I think the gale force winds literally blew everybody along the driveway to our door and they all walked in looking very windswept!
I worked the morning shift and The Motivator did the afternoon shift. Both of those shifts were equally busy, so we go to sleep smiling tonight.
It was necessary to order some more bags, purses and wallets today because it seems that everybody genuinely needed to replace their tattered and worn money holders this week. Unprecedented wallet and purse sales!
After such a big week, I was looking forward to a beverage at the club and spending time with the girls - even though there were only two of them there tonight. Babysitting duties, illness and holidays kept our numbers down, but Adoring Husband accompanied me tonight and between us, we were able to win 24 drinks.
The drinks can only be house wine or regular beer and since I don’t drink wine and Adoring Husband drinks lite beer, neither of us can use the prize, so we shared the cards with friends. It was still exciting the way I won it though and totally unexpected!
Now I must head to bed. My alarm told me to sleep over an hour ago, yet here I am! The Motivator has two days off, so I’ll be working full days over the weekend. This means that I need to be on the ball. It will be my turn to take time off next week.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Nite all
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Something in the Air
I had a good solid night's sleep and I didn't start work until 11am this morning, so I was able to take my time greeting the day.
But the day just hasn't felt right. I've been out of sorts. A bit weird in the head. Slightly on edge. Emotionally confused. Running on auto pilot.
I was working alone in our shop from 12pm til 4pm and in that time, The Little Mermaid came in six times - once to make sure that I had received the postcard and scratchies that she left for me earlier, twice to borrow money, once to offer me some of the food that she bought with the money she borrowed, once to use our toilet and once to ask me to phone her mother (who thankfully didn't answer her phone).
The Little Mermaid's mental state is quite fragile at the moment and I feel guilty that her constant presence in our shop today sent my mental state into overdrive.
I like The Little Mermaid and when her meds are working properly, she is an intelligent, articulate, caring and capable woman. When they're not working, or when she doesn't take them as she should, she loses all control of every aspect of her life.
There is a fine line between being the right kind of helpful and being the wrong kind of helpful in these circumstances. Some of the businesses and community members do what they can and are very compassionate, while others are intolerant and judgemental.
All I can do, is not enough and will never be enough, but the more we do, the more she will expect us to do and the less likely it is that she will get the real help that she needs.
It's a kind of Catch 22 situation.
Also, it's obvious that the 'real help' that she needs is not available in this area - because she has been trying to get help for years without success.
It bothers me that she walks directly to the area behind our counter without reservation.
It bothers me that she comes into the shop when there are other customers and begins her ranting behaviour.
It bothers me that her demeanour changes from hour to hour.
It bothers me that I hear small excerpts of her life story and I can't figure out what the important people in her life are doing to help.
It bothers me that I can't just make a phone call to fix her.
There are so many things that bother me about the whole situation.
Where is the line? How much do we help? Where do we draw the line for her? How do we help her understand that we have a line?
Aside from this extended emotional hiccup in the day, the shop did well and I came home at 4pm to make a chicken curry for an early dinner because Adoring Husband had SES tonight.
Now I'm off to bed to hopefully get another solid night of sleep, and hopefully tomorrow will feel right and I won't have to function on autopilot.
Nite all.
But the day just hasn't felt right. I've been out of sorts. A bit weird in the head. Slightly on edge. Emotionally confused. Running on auto pilot.
I was working alone in our shop from 12pm til 4pm and in that time, The Little Mermaid came in six times - once to make sure that I had received the postcard and scratchies that she left for me earlier, twice to borrow money, once to offer me some of the food that she bought with the money she borrowed, once to use our toilet and once to ask me to phone her mother (who thankfully didn't answer her phone).
The Little Mermaid's mental state is quite fragile at the moment and I feel guilty that her constant presence in our shop today sent my mental state into overdrive.
I like The Little Mermaid and when her meds are working properly, she is an intelligent, articulate, caring and capable woman. When they're not working, or when she doesn't take them as she should, she loses all control of every aspect of her life.
There is a fine line between being the right kind of helpful and being the wrong kind of helpful in these circumstances. Some of the businesses and community members do what they can and are very compassionate, while others are intolerant and judgemental.
All I can do, is not enough and will never be enough, but the more we do, the more she will expect us to do and the less likely it is that she will get the real help that she needs.
It's a kind of Catch 22 situation.
Also, it's obvious that the 'real help' that she needs is not available in this area - because she has been trying to get help for years without success.
It bothers me that she walks directly to the area behind our counter without reservation.
It bothers me that she comes into the shop when there are other customers and begins her ranting behaviour.
It bothers me that her demeanour changes from hour to hour.
It bothers me that I hear small excerpts of her life story and I can't figure out what the important people in her life are doing to help.
It bothers me that I can't just make a phone call to fix her.
There are so many things that bother me about the whole situation.
Where is the line? How much do we help? Where do we draw the line for her? How do we help her understand that we have a line?
Aside from this extended emotional hiccup in the day, the shop did well and I came home at 4pm to make a chicken curry for an early dinner because Adoring Husband had SES tonight.
Now I'm off to bed to hopefully get another solid night of sleep, and hopefully tomorrow will feel right and I won't have to function on autopilot.
Nite all.
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Faster Than ...
The day went faster than ever!
The weather was dreadful with gale force conditions and scudding rain, so it was about 10.30am by the time the first customer braved the walk up our driveway and came through our door, but the good thing was that they came in groups and supported each other in their purchases!
Our customers were very chatty today too. Some loudly chatty, which was disconcerting when The Gypsy was conducting therapeutic massage in the treatment room. I lowered my voice in the hope that they would follow my lead and do the same, but it seemed to make them louder.
The Gypsy informs me that the sounds can be heard but are quite muffled, so they are not distracting. I've questioned a couple of the regular customers and tried to apologise for the sounds, but they too, inform me that they don't hear the noises. That's a good thing.
The Motivator arrived at the shop around 1.30pm after frantically trying to get all of her errands done in The Bay and that was my cue to call for Adoring Husband to pick me up. We have trivia at the club tonight, so we've had an early dinner and have been watching some Grey's Anatomy on Binge TV.
I now have an hour til it's time to leave for trivia and while I attempt to ease my overwhelming frustration at Adoring Husband's incessant questions about everything and anything this afternoon, I shall sign off and try to be productive elsewhere.
Nite all.
The weather was dreadful with gale force conditions and scudding rain, so it was about 10.30am by the time the first customer braved the walk up our driveway and came through our door, but the good thing was that they came in groups and supported each other in their purchases!
Our customers were very chatty today too. Some loudly chatty, which was disconcerting when The Gypsy was conducting therapeutic massage in the treatment room. I lowered my voice in the hope that they would follow my lead and do the same, but it seemed to make them louder.
The Gypsy informs me that the sounds can be heard but are quite muffled, so they are not distracting. I've questioned a couple of the regular customers and tried to apologise for the sounds, but they too, inform me that they don't hear the noises. That's a good thing.
The Motivator arrived at the shop around 1.30pm after frantically trying to get all of her errands done in The Bay and that was my cue to call for Adoring Husband to pick me up. We have trivia at the club tonight, so we've had an early dinner and have been watching some Grey's Anatomy on Binge TV.
I now have an hour til it's time to leave for trivia and while I attempt to ease my overwhelming frustration at Adoring Husband's incessant questions about everything and anything this afternoon, I shall sign off and try to be productive elsewhere.
Nite all.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
All The Greatness
Yet another pleasant coffee morning with the girls - Tweedle Dee (new name yet to be announced) and Beauty were the only two girls available for coffee today but I totally enjoyed their company for the hour that they were there.
This is the day where all the customers who came into The Happy Abode over the Easter weekend, returned with friends and family.
So far, the pattern shows almost complete silence during the hours of 12pm - 2pm but very busy in the mornings and the afternoons.
That's how it's been since the beginning of last week.
I worked from 9am - 1.30pm and it was crazy busy from 10am - 12pm. Apparently it was also crazy busy after I left, so it's been a good day!
It was nice to come home early and just sit back and relax.
Adoring Husband wasn't feeling too well, so he went to bed for a nap and we missed the monthly barbecue tonight. The wind was pretty strong, so I think it might have been a little unpleasant out there by the water, but the sunset certainly looked spectacular from our lounge room window, so I felt a bit disappointed that I wasn't near the water to get some good shots.
After AH woke from his nap, he fired up the barby to cook our snags and I made a salsa salad to have with them.
Now my alarm is telling me to go to bed, so I'm following orders and doing just that.
Nite all.
This is the day where all the customers who came into The Happy Abode over the Easter weekend, returned with friends and family.
So far, the pattern shows almost complete silence during the hours of 12pm - 2pm but very busy in the mornings and the afternoons.
That's how it's been since the beginning of last week.
I worked from 9am - 1.30pm and it was crazy busy from 10am - 12pm. Apparently it was also crazy busy after I left, so it's been a good day!
It was nice to come home early and just sit back and relax.
Adoring Husband wasn't feeling too well, so he went to bed for a nap and we missed the monthly barbecue tonight. The wind was pretty strong, so I think it might have been a little unpleasant out there by the water, but the sunset certainly looked spectacular from our lounge room window, so I felt a bit disappointed that I wasn't near the water to get some good shots.
After AH woke from his nap, he fired up the barby to cook our snags and I made a salsa salad to have with them.
Now my alarm is telling me to go to bed, so I'm following orders and doing just that.
Nite all.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Happy Arvo
Well, here I am at The Happy Abode and the clock tells me it's 4.22pm.
There have been plenty of customers through the door since I arrived at work just before 12.30pm and I'm expecting one more to arrive just before closing time to pay for the next Beginners Photography course.
The afternoon has gone quite quickly and Adoring Husband will arrive shortly to help me pack up and close the shop.
In the meantime, I'm browsing through some of the pamphlets that we brought home from the Gift Fair in Sydney and contemplating the sort of new stock that we can bring in with our next order.
We feel that we need to balance out our quality high end products with some fun or quirky items and I've just been perusing the 'alcohol' related products and 'caravan/camping' products.
If only money grew on trees!
Both of our donation vouchers for the fishing classic have now been redeemed - both of the indecisive winners took a long time to choose from our selection. Perhaps our vouchers should be for a lesser value next year - that should make it easier to choose!
... It's now three hours later! Beef casserole for Adoring Husband's dinner and grilled Barramundi from the takeaway for me. I made garlic butter asparagus to go with and for my dinner, I added tomato and avocado.
I need to drink more water because I think I'm a bit dehydrated - I've only had one glass of water all day - and THAT'S probably why I'm feeling so tired!
It's almost 7.30pm and I'm definitely ready for bed.
So I guess I'll sign off and lay my head upon my pillow.
Nite all.
There have been plenty of customers through the door since I arrived at work just before 12.30pm and I'm expecting one more to arrive just before closing time to pay for the next Beginners Photography course.
The afternoon has gone quite quickly and Adoring Husband will arrive shortly to help me pack up and close the shop.
In the meantime, I'm browsing through some of the pamphlets that we brought home from the Gift Fair in Sydney and contemplating the sort of new stock that we can bring in with our next order.
We feel that we need to balance out our quality high end products with some fun or quirky items and I've just been perusing the 'alcohol' related products and 'caravan/camping' products.
If only money grew on trees!
Both of our donation vouchers for the fishing classic have now been redeemed - both of the indecisive winners took a long time to choose from our selection. Perhaps our vouchers should be for a lesser value next year - that should make it easier to choose!
... It's now three hours later! Beef casserole for Adoring Husband's dinner and grilled Barramundi from the takeaway for me. I made garlic butter asparagus to go with and for my dinner, I added tomato and avocado.
I need to drink more water because I think I'm a bit dehydrated - I've only had one glass of water all day - and THAT'S probably why I'm feeling so tired!
It's almost 7.30pm and I'm definitely ready for bed.
So I guess I'll sign off and lay my head upon my pillow.
Nite all.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Break Time
The morning was crazy busy in The Happy Abode.
The middle of the day was whisperingly quiet.
The afternoon picked up again and I left at 3pm, but The Motivator informs me that it was busy in the late afternoon too.
I do know that I am 'peopled' out this week.
Some people are quite draining and they suck the energy out of you. There seems to be a pattern too. You can go for days where everybody is very easy to deal with. They enter the shop on a mission, stay for a short period of time and leave on a high.
Others come into the shop intent on taking your time. They share their life story, which often includes some 'woe is me' episodes, rarely taking a breath and they only stop talking when somebody else takes your attention. By the time they leave, you feel like you need a nap or a Vitamin B shot.
Today was a bit like that!
We did sell some of our beautiful new stock today, which felt good. When our customers see the beauty and the value in something that we carefully selected for the shop, it makes me feel good.
The fishing classic finished today, so the town will be emptying out this evening and tomorrow. Some families will stay on for the school holidays and after they head home, it will leave room for the southerners and the grey nomads to fill the parks for the colder months.
There is always a steady flow of people through the town from April to November.
Adoring Husband picked me up at 3pm and I headed straight to the kitchen to start a beef casserole in the slow cooker, after which I made some chocolate energy balls. They are now setting in the fridge and I'll do a savoury mince shortly. That should feed us for the next couple of days.
I also desperately need to do some washing - there's always stuff that needs doing!
Last month marked ten years since I quit smoking - pretty happy with that, but I must say that I've actually felt like lighting a cigarette or two this week. I wonder why???
Adoring Husband is on SES duty again this afternoon and evening, so I'm having a quiet time at home watching the footy between chores.
It will definitely be an early night for me so that I can be recharged and ready for a big Easter Monday.
This is how I feel ...
This is how I want to feel ...
Nite all.
The middle of the day was whisperingly quiet.
The afternoon picked up again and I left at 3pm, but The Motivator informs me that it was busy in the late afternoon too.
I do know that I am 'peopled' out this week.
Some people are quite draining and they suck the energy out of you. There seems to be a pattern too. You can go for days where everybody is very easy to deal with. They enter the shop on a mission, stay for a short period of time and leave on a high.
Others come into the shop intent on taking your time. They share their life story, which often includes some 'woe is me' episodes, rarely taking a breath and they only stop talking when somebody else takes your attention. By the time they leave, you feel like you need a nap or a Vitamin B shot.
Today was a bit like that!
We did sell some of our beautiful new stock today, which felt good. When our customers see the beauty and the value in something that we carefully selected for the shop, it makes me feel good.
The fishing classic finished today, so the town will be emptying out this evening and tomorrow. Some families will stay on for the school holidays and after they head home, it will leave room for the southerners and the grey nomads to fill the parks for the colder months.
There is always a steady flow of people through the town from April to November.
Adoring Husband picked me up at 3pm and I headed straight to the kitchen to start a beef casserole in the slow cooker, after which I made some chocolate energy balls. They are now setting in the fridge and I'll do a savoury mince shortly. That should feed us for the next couple of days.
I also desperately need to do some washing - there's always stuff that needs doing!
Last month marked ten years since I quit smoking - pretty happy with that, but I must say that I've actually felt like lighting a cigarette or two this week. I wonder why???
Adoring Husband is on SES duty again this afternoon and evening, so I'm having a quiet time at home watching the footy between chores.
It will definitely be an early night for me so that I can be recharged and ready for a big Easter Monday.
This is how I feel ...
This is how I want to feel ...
Nite all.
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