If Only

If every week was like this week, I would be a very wealthy woman!

The week finished on a high and I can see a difference in the shop and the lack of stock, although someone did comment today that there was still a lot of stock there.

I am actually still hopeful of the mandates being dropped within the week.

I am okay if it happens and I’m okay if it doesn’t. 

I still haven’t given notice on the lease and am holding off until the very last minute - even if it means paying an extra month for nothing.

There are currently 200,000 people protesting on the steps of old Parliament House.

The men leading this peaceful protest are Graham Hood (x-QANTAS pilot), John Larter (x-Senior Paramedic), Christian Marchegiani (Reclaim the Line spokesperson), Ricardo Bosi (former Special Forces Officer) and a couple of other support people.

They are amazing humans and true leaders who are backed by a few of our parliamentarians, senior lawyers, specialist doctors and scientists and people who are experts in Aust Commonwealth history and political history. 

There are waves of people continuing to head to Canberra over the coming week from all over Australia.

Graham Hood has been invited to address parliament this week and I couldn’t think of a more fitting advocate for our rights. It’s a huge responsibility and he carries the hopes of millions on his shoulders.

By next weekend, they are predicting between 2 & 5 million people to enter the ACT.

It will be an interesting week and I would love to be there!

We enjoyed Chicken Laksa for dinner tonight.

I’m looking forward to my Sunday off and I think I’ll work on Monday to give myself an extra day to get rid of stock.

It’s 9.30pm and I’m feeling a bit peckish. I might make myself a cup of sleepy tea and climb into bed.

Nite all.

Consistently Consistent

What a week it has been!

Sales have been consistently high and, like a slow leak, the stock is disappearing out the door.

I had a LOT of visitors today. Friends and acquaintances coming to witness the final death throes, but at least they contributed by purchasing and removing some of the stock.

There were a couple of returnees who have already spent up big this week.

I also have a lot of stock packaged behind the counter waiting for pick up!

Earlier in the day, before it got busy, I emptied out a couple of drawers - discovering even more stock! There couldn’t possibly be any more stock hidden away!

Surely!?

I reorganised the stock so that it still looked presentable and more spread out.

Adoring Husband had a coffee date and afterwards he bought me a GF toastie from the local cafe. For some reason I was starving! Unfortunately, it got very busy and I didn’t get to finish it. By the time I got back to it, it was cold and GF bread is not nice in that state. It turns very rubbery.

The day passed quickly, as it does when it’s busy and we closed right on time.

BGWLBH and I had a cup of tea and chatted about our day before heading in separate directions until dinner time.

AH cooked the usual Friday night fare and we played a bit of trivia.

I watched the movie “Hope Floats” while AH slept on the lounge beside me. I love that movie.

Now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Bigger and Better

After two really big days in sales, I expected that today would be quiet.

It wasn’t!

Today was bigger and better than Tuesday and Wednesday, which was GREAT because the shop is emptying at a very nice pace and I continue to rearrange everything and spread it all out so that people can find what they want.

I met a high energy woman with the same name as mine and she was also very like-minded. We had a great conversation about you-know-what.

There were quite a few conversations today that were affirming and interesting. It feels like the tide is turning and some people who were once complying and believing the narrative are seeing the truth and are not prepared to continue with the mandates and injecting themselves every few months.

Some people are drawing the line.

Yesterday, I decided to take advantage of the last of my wholesale access and purchase some Mexican silver jewellery. Two bracelets, a bangle and two pendants for myself (because I really needed more jewellery haha).

It arrived today!

That was quick!

I also received three new pairs of leggings, so I now have a very good collection ready for my impending retirement. I will live a comfortable lifestyle!

We closed on time today and I was not greeted by BGWLBH because she was having nap time.

For dinner, she topped up the salads and I cooked crispy skinned chicken. It was delicious.

We finished that epic game of trivial pursuit and Adoring Husband won!! It’s his first win in two years!! 

I’m now watching MAFS (Married at First Sight).

It’s raining again and I might fall asleep to that lovely sound again.

Nite all.

Late Finish

At 1.40pm, two customers walked into the shop.

I thought they were together, bu soon discovered they were not.

One of them completed her purchase (which was big) at about 2.20pm but the other was having a lovely time strolling through the shop eyeballing absolutely everything and loading up the counter with more and more items.

At 2.30pm she asked if we were getting ready to leave, but we told her that we were in no hurry and she could take her time. She wandered around for another ten minutes and then decided to pay for her items and return tomorrow because there was just too much to see and she didn’t feel like she was finished yet.

Her spend was even higher than the previous customer so it was a mighty finish to another fantastic day of sales.

Fantastic sales and fantastically exhausting!

The displays are looking sparse and I’m feeling better about moving the stock before 14th Feb.

I had a great conversation with a like-minded individual today who provided me with information that even I wasn’t aware of. She was an interesting character.

We were home just before 3pm.

BGWLBH had prepared a number of different salads for dinner so all Adoring Husband had to do was cook the lamb chops on the barbecue. I had the remaining prawns and we were sitting down to dinner at 5pm.

It was delicious! I could feel all the goodness surging through my body!

Afterwards we attempted to finish yesterday’s game of trivia, but after two hours we STILL hadn’t produced a winner! We were all pretty hopeless tonight.

I watched MAFS tonight and then fell into bed. It’s already 11.30pm and I’ll be falling asleep to the sound of rain on the tin roof. Just lovely.

Nite all.

Countdown

Two weeks.

That’s all I have left until my current role in the community comes to an end.

The time has passed quickly and while I feel very hopeful of a positive future, I also feel a real emptiness because I successfully built on an already solid foundation to create my perfect space, doubling the income and providing a hub that brought people together as well as a safe space where women could visit and vent about whatever life was throwing at them.

Being a community hub was my main aim and to bring like minded people together to learn something new and form lasting relationships and friendships. That is my greatest achievement and I’m proud of that.

Through the photography classes, art, journaling and meditation, I learnt so much about myself, pushing through insecurities and fears and finding strength and confidence that I knew was deep inside me.

I still love my shop and I wish things were different, but every time somebody walks through the door wearing a mask and I look into their eyes and listen to their muffled voice, I know this is the right decision for me.

Today was another big day of sales and I only had the last 30 minutes without customers, so it was pretty exhausting. No time for lunch but I did get to drink half a cup of tea!

It was a quick and easy close and we were home by 2.10pm - even though somebody attempted to come in  as we were leaving.

After a quick catch up with BGWLBH I decided to lay down for a rest. Two hours (!!) later I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed ready to make dinner only to have BGWLBH tell me that it was already prepared!

She filled the table with cold meats and salads. All I had to do was shell my prawns 🦐 

I felt very grateful.

We played trivia before pausing to watch MAFS. Adoring Husband and I are neck and neck for the win, while BGWLBH is very surprisingly lagging behind us. She will probably speed past us to win so we won’t get too cocky just yet.

It’s almost 10.30pm so it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Retail Therapy

BGWLBH drove us into The Bay this morning.

We started at Tinkerbell’s…

I bought a blue aqua aura bracelet to go with my heart pendant, an amber pendant to go with the ring that BGWLBH gave me for Christmas and a raw clear crystal pendant designed by Tinkerbell’s owner.

We made a quick stop at Go Natural before heading for Stocklands.

Vitamins, shoes, books and fresh fruit in that order.

I found some lovely inexpensive journals, so bought four of them and a spell book for ‘Love Happiness & Success’.

We stopped for some fresh seafood at Craignish and we were home by 12.30pm.

We unpacked all of our goodies, threw together a quick lunch and BGWLBH headed out for a swim, I landed in bed and AH planted himself in front of the TV.

Dinner was a delicious lamb roast with baked potato, sweet potato and pumpkin, steamed snow peas, carrot and broccoli smothered in home made gravy. I ate a large plate full!

“Married at First Sight” started tonight.

Now it’s 11.30pm and I’m weary.

Nite all.

Poolside

I wasn’t in a ‘stay in bed’ kind of mood today so at around 10am I decided to face the day.

I prepared tea and toast for breakfast and headed out to the Bali hut to join BGWLBH who was in her favourite spot reading her giant book.

We chatted over our beverages and I changed into my swimmers before sliding into the pool, which was delightfully refreshing and swam a few laps, floated for a bit and sat under the hut again.

There were a couple of short sharp rain showers which didn’t deter us.

After a while, BGWLBH headed inside to prepare some lunch.

I stayed outside by myself reading, playing, singing, swimming, floating, meditating and day dreaming until about 4pm. It was a great way to spend my Sunday.

I made soft GF tortillas with spicy chicken mince and coleslaw for dinner followed by a fruit slushy made with frozen banana, pineapple and mango, coconut cream, coconut water, a splash of maple syrup and a pinch of salt. De-bloody-lishus!

We finished the last game of trivial pursuit (which I won) before going our separate ways. BGWLBH to her bedroom to finish her giant book. Adoring Husband and I to the lounge room to watch I’m a Celebrity final night - I was pleased that Dylan won.

Now I’m watching The Greatest Showman - which is weird because last night in my dreams, I was in a relationship with Hugh Jackman and we were trying to solve a crime, searching for clues and people, running through city streets and dining in fine restaurants and laughing at each other’s jokes and kissing!

I’m sad to say that the kissing was a little disappointing.

It was a good dream and I woke up feeling happy and energised - I imagine anyone who spent an entire night with Hugh would feel the same way!

Now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.