Blurgh!

I had a terrible night!

Nightmares that had me tossing and turning all night until 3.30am. I lay awake, but with my eyes closed, until Adoring Husband's alarm went off at 5am.

I spent some time with the boys at the Seat of Knowledge and then enjoyed a short walk along the beach. The water was much cooler, so splashing through ankle deep water was very refreshing. The beach was completely empty - now that the tourists have finally returned home - yay!!

I was completely brain dead until about noon, at which time I lay on the bed for a short nap. An hour later, I was woken by the courier truck delivering my last box of jewellery for the website.

I got a little work done over a couple of hours in the afternoon and I ordered some ring boxes and other jewellery packaging.

Adoring Husband picked up my photos from the framers ...

... they look pretty good! I'll check with the post office to see if they have a safe way to send them in the mail, otherwise, my next option is to roll them and send them (without the mat board frames) in cardboard cylinders.

I think I'm done for the day.

Nite all.

Happy Dayz

I had a productive day at my desk.

However, I am continually amazed at how one day I feel like I am close to making an announcement, only to discover that there is more to do, more to learn and the announcement is still a distant vision!

It's a lesson in patience, time management, planning, co-ordination, structure, formulation, improvisation, manipulation and visualisation.

I no longer beat myself up with each disappointment. I just have to build a bridge and get over it. Move on. Go forward.

Eventually, I will reach the finish line.

Even with 5 hours at my desk today, I felt like I had only achieved what a professional would have taken an hour (if that) to complete.

Still, I am being overly cautious and double checking everything because I don't want to have to backtrack to fix mistakes if I can avoid it.

Adoring Husband came up with a brilliant idea for lunch and we had fish and chips from the local takeaway, so I didn't have to leave my desk.

At 3.30pm I pedalled off to meet The Blonde Bombshell and Reality TV Queen for drinks.

Reality TV Queen is struggling with the passing of her husband and this afternoon was a drinking session combined with group therapy. It's a process that she is going to have to endure to get to the other side of grief, and right now she needs lots of love and understanding.

I just wish I could make it all better for her.

I think it was after 6pm when I got home and I made a quick nosh up of lamb mince with cabbage, carrot, zucchini, onion, garlic, chilli and the juices from Friday night's lamb roast. It was pretty yummy, as were the strawberries with chopped hazelnuts, shredded chocolate and coconut ice cream that we had for dessert.

It's just after 10pm so it looks like I can have an early night. Roger Federer has just won his match in the Aus Open, so I can head to bed feeling satisfied that all is right with my world.

Nite all.

Productivity Plus

I moved straight from my bedroom to my workspace this morning.

Well, I had my lemon water first.

There was much to do while the internet was moving quite a bit faster than yesterday.

I researched packaging for different sized photos framed with mat board and mounted on padded board. There was really nothing suitable, although I could have some packaging taylor made for a price.

During this research, I trawled through many many photography websites, from little known photographers, to well known photographers, to Etsy photography shops and international photographers.

All of them send their prints through the mail rolled up inside cardboard cylinders - except for soft canvas prints and stretched canvas prints and fully framed limited edition prints.

I also discovered that my prices were way lower than any of the other photographers! So I changed my prices, which meant a lot of editing on 20 different pages.

I doubled checked my sizes and discovered that I had one measurement incorrect on my larger pics, so I had to edit them too.

By this time, it was 1pm and I had a Le Reve party to attend at 2pm, so I made myself presentable and pedalled to The Motivator's house. I was a bit concerned to pull into the driveway and discover that the party presenter had not arrived yet! I was hoping that this wouldn't be a repeat of the last party that I attended where she didn't turn up at all.

The Motivator soon put my mind at ease when she explained the situation and twenty minutes later, Forgetful Jane pulled into the driveway.

There were six of us in attendance and we all had fun trying the different scents in the perfumes and roll on blends. It was very difficult to decide on what to buy and I'm glad that I have three more parties to attend in the coming months so that I can spread my spending. I really love the essential oils and the different blends.

The Motivator put up a beautiful spread at the end of the presentation with some delicious chicken wings, a cheese and veg platter, a fruit and chocolate dip platter and a GF chocolate mud cake. I filled my belly with all of that deliciousness and didn't need any dinner when I got home!

After everybody left, we discussed our flights and plans for the Sydney trip coming up soon and before I knew it, it was 6.15pm! Poor Adoring Husband was sitting at home waiting patiently for me to return and cook his dinner! It was a nice easy steak with eggs, tomato, avocado and kimchi.

Now I am enjoying the tennis with the Australian, Gavrilova playing the Swiss girl Bacsinszky. So far, a great match!

I hope that tomorrow, the internet is moving efficiently and I get to spend time getting more checked off my 'to do' list.

Tonight I'm feeling enthusiastic and motivated .. I hope the mood remains upon waking tomorrow!

That's it from me.

Nite all.

Internet Hell

That's where I was today! Internet hell!

I had a lot on my 'to do' list and I was so keen to get moving and check off as many items as possible.

The stoopid internet did not play fair at all.

It was taking at least two minutes for pages to load. It took 6 minutes to load the photography site that I needed. On the Flickr site, I couldn't even load my photos! They just froze mid load.

I attempted to create a business card on the Vistaprint site, but even though I made it to the size that they requested, it didn't fit in the frame they provided. I tried, unsuccessfully, three times ... but tomorrow is another day!

Nothing seemed to go right and I complained loudly to Adoring Husband, who wasn't the slightest bit sympathetic to my woes.

Ruby, number two psychotic dog, decided that my light box was a perfect place to sleep. I really must put that away tomorrow, so that she doesn't dig a hole in the bottom of it, the way she has with her real bed.

I registered with the Reed Gift Fair, which is being held in Sydney, and which I will be attending with The Motivator straight after the Health and Wellness Festival in Canberra. They ask for a LOT of documentation to prove that you own a business before they approve your Pass.

I hope to get some good ideas for my online shop and make some helpful contacts. A bit of networking and marketing never went astray. Hopefully, my website will be up and running by then so that I can hand out business cards (if I ever get over that little hurdle) and look like I've got my act together!

Well, it's safe to say that I don't have my act together at all tonight because it's already 11.30pm and I still have stuff to do in the kitchen before I go to bed.

So on that note, I shall bid you good night.

Nite all.

Checked Off

The Seat of Knowledge enjoyed my company for a short while this morning. There was another female there when I arrived, whom I shall name Manic Mermaid. She lives on a boat on the river and obviously has some mental issues, among other problems. She provided some entertainment and some uncomfortable moments.

In future, if she is there when I arrive, I shall continue riding and not stop. She gave me a very bad feeling and she seems to be quite volatile, so I believe she is a good person to avoid. She didn't even speak to me directly while I was there, but still I felt uneasy. Alway follow your instincts, I say.

We had to drive into town to pick up our FROG box this afternoon, so I decided to take the opportunity to have a couple of my photos printed. One in the small size and one in the large size.

We then visited my framing guy to get some quotes on mat board frames and backing. I was pleasantly surprised by his quote and left the two photos there to be mounted and framed with mat board.

I want my photos to be presented professionally, so this is the test. I just have to figure out how to ship them!

So that's another task checked off the 'to do' list.

While we were in The Bay, I received a text informing us that the FROG box was going to be delayed by at least 90 minutes! What a pain.

We drove to Go Natural to see if they had restocked their fridge with peppermint choc chip coconut ice cream, but alas they hadn't. The owner apologised because he had been away on holidays and told me that it would be the 29th January before the next order came in.

I almost fell to my knees in despair! I told him that this simply was not acceptable and that I couldn't possibly wait that long!

He then made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. He said that if I ordered at least six tubs of it, he would give it to me at a great discounted price. He didn't tell me what the discounted price would be, but I didn't care. I simply opened my eyes really wide with delighted surprise and said "Yes please!"

I still have to wait til 29th January, but now I wait with eager anticipation!

While Adoring Husband shopped at his favourite, and my most despised store, Bunnings, I shopped at Stocklands for a few grocery items. I forced myself to avoid all other shops, however, I did shop at one of the kiosks in the the walkway and bought some TurmeriX. I've heard amazing things about this product, so I'm excited to try it.

After all of that, we still had 45 minutes to kill before our FROG box would be ready, so we found a coffee shop for AH to get his afternoon fix and I downloaded the tennis app on my phone and began watching some tennis! We sat in the car with the deliciously cold air conditioning and relaxed while we waited.

By the time we arrived home, I think it was after 5pm and the house was like a sauna! Ugh! We threw open all the doors and windows to let some fresh air in and thank goodness there was a good cooling breeze coming from the south and soon the house had cooled down to a comfortable level.

We are, at last, on the list for our new air conditioner to be installed, however, we have to wait until 10th February! That's still three weeks away.

It's already after 10pm and as much as I'd like to stay awake and watch Jordan Thompson complete his match against Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open, I want even more, to get a good night's sleep so that I can be fresh for the website tomorrow. After a lost day today, I have some catching up to do.

So ...

Nite all!

What a Day!

The energy is surging in our town at the moment, and it's all bad energy.

I don't know if it's the heat or what it is, but it's not good.

The Reality TV Queen lost her husband yesterday, who succumbed after a very long illness, for which he refused treatment. So sad, but it's a blessing that he is no longer in pain. May he rest in peace.

In the street behind her house, there was a stabbing! A long running feud between neighbours came to a head when a dog belonging to one of them, escaped from the yard and trespassed onto the neighbour's property. This triggered a fit of rage and as he'd previously promised would happen, he took a knife and went on a rampage attempting to hurt the husband and wife AND dog.

He stabbed the man, and police, ambulance and news reporters were all soon on the scene.

Unbelievable.

This morning, my watch told me that I slept for 7 hours and 21 minutes. This made me happy, however, I only slept deeply for 2 hours, slept 'restfully' for about 3 hours and the remaining hours were 'restless'. I did wake up feeling good though, and I've had plenty of energy all day, so I'm happy with that.

I will attempt to make that a habit.

Now, my watch is telling me that I walked more than 4kms today and rode for 4kms, so that's good too!

I saw my boys this morning and then rode to the beach, where I walked for more than thirty minutes as the tide came in. The water was lukewarm, so it wasn't very refreshing and by the time I got to the end of my walk, I could feel the bite in the sun on my back. It was going to be a very hot day!

I decided to pick up bags full of fresh fruit from the supermarket, imagining that I would make up a refreshing big bowl of cold fruit salad. Cherries, black grapes, rockmelon, pawpaw, mango, bananas, strawberries, passionfruit and apple. It sounded like a great idea to help ease the heat.

No fruit salad was made, but I did eat half a tub of cherries and a bunch of grapes! Tomorrow is another day.

The Motivator has been home for a week and I finally got to catch up with her today. We spent two hours spilling all of our news. She gave me some more motivation and some great ideas and advice for the website.

Her house was beautifully air conditioned and I'd forgotten how hot it was until I opened the door to leave. Ugh!! I begged her to let me stay! Haha.

I was actually surprised when I returned home, to find that the house wasn't too hot. My workspace had a nice breeze blowing through the window and that, combined with my little fan on the desk, was enough to keep me comfortable.

I ate a light lunch. I edited and resized some of the photos that I'd taken on Monday and Tuesday. I priced all of the jewellery. Checked my emails and by then, it was time to cook dinner.

It was a full day.

It's almost 10.30pm and if I want to get 7.5 hours of sleep again tonight, I'd best move my butt in the direction of the bedroom!

Nite all.

Monitor Everything

I believe that there is an app for everything.

My watch has an app that monitors my exercise, my heartbeat, my activity (different to my exercise apparently), my breathing, how long I've been sitting (always too long). It tells me to stand up for a minute, and then times me. It also congratulates me for a job well done after one minute.

It tells me when to breathe and then provides a blossoming flower, accompanied by a vibration for every time I inhale. I also receive praise for one minute of breathing.

It gives me a list of various exercises and activities, which, when I select one, counts me down 3-2-1 and runs a stopwatch for the duration of that exercise. I can choose from walking, jogging, cycling, rowing, elliptical and swimming - both pool and open water. There is also an 'other' option where you can put your own exercise or activity in there.

It can tell if I'm stationary, so I can't cheat by pressing the button while sitting in my chair.

Now I have an app that monitors my sleep! It can tell 'when' I fall asleep, how long each stage of my sleep is, including REM and deep sleep. It can tell when I'm restless and when I wake up. Last night I slept for total of 4 hours and 50 minutes, thanks to a barking dog, that got tired of barking after 30 minutes and toileted where she was.

So I was out of bed in a dazed state at 4am, letting her outside, while I spent 10 minutes cleaning up her messes, toileting myself and climbing back into bed. Of course, the crappy stimulation (pardon the pun) was enough that I couldn't easily fall back to sleep and it was almost 5am by the time I did ...

... only to be woken by Adoring Husband's alarm at 5am, which he struggled to turn off, and so the further stimulation woke me up completely.

It was nice of my watch to let me know that I slept for 4 hours and 50 minutes, was restless at 3.30am (probably when the dog started barking) and only had just over 3 hours of sound sleep for the entire night.

I really didn't need to have that confirmed for me.

Well, being up that early, gave me plenty of time to iron my clothes, shower, wash and blow dry my hair, paint on my face and make myself presentable firstly for coffee with the girls and then for AH and my trip into The Bay where we met with the financial advisors.

I had lots of questions, which they answered satisfactorily, although I was left feeling like they resented the female half of this equation asking all the questions and giving them directions. It was nothing specific that they said, just their manner, however I held my ground and got the answers that I needed as well as changing part of their original plans for our finances.

I am mighty and fierce!!

Adoring Husband needed to visit my most hated shop on the universe ... Bunnings ... so he dropped me off at Stocklands where I spent money on things that I didn't need.

We were home by about 2pm and AH spent the entire afternoon in his shed working. He had bought a couple of $10 pedestal fans from Bunnings so that he could work in a degree of comfort out there.

I went to my desk where I had planned on editing the jewellery photos from yesterday, but discovered that I had thousands of unwanted photos that had synched from my other devices, so I spent an hour deleting about 2500 of them. There are probably another 4-5000 that need to go, but I'll get to them another day.

It was nice to be with Adoring Husband today and have a break from my desk, but I'm looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow.

Here I am at 8.45pm, an early mark for a change, so I hope to get a bit more than 3 hours of deep sleep tonight and wake up fresh and energised, ready for a productive day.

Please let the stars align!

Nite all.

It's Tennis Time!

I didn't watch any tennis during the day today, because I must confess, I forgot that it was on!

I'm disappointed because there were some young Aussies that won their first round matches that I really would have liked to see.

Tomorrow will be another miss for me because we have a lot planned for the day.

Right now I'm enjoying a Roger Federer match.

I spent the day in my workspace, making an absolute mess of the room.

I took everything off half of the desk so that I could take photos of the jewellery. I set up my tripod, then spent half an hour trying to remember how to use my Canon 5D MarkII (my MarkIII is out of action). They are vastly different cameras to use.

I took all of the photos and then realised that the card in the camera wouldn't fit into the slot of my desktop, so I had to find the camera cord so that I could download the photos.

That meant making an even bigger mess in the room as I emptied cupboards and drawers in my frantic search. In the end, I stole the one out of Adoring Husband's camera bag. Don't tell him will you?

Finally, I was sitting at my desk ready to download, when the photos program on the computer decided it needed updating! Thirty minutes later and it had only updated 7%. I figured it was a good time to make lunch.

An hour later, I was back at the desk and my computer was ready for me. I checked the photos. Saved the ones I liked,  noted the crappy ones and did them again.

By now, it was mid afternoon and I was feeling the heat. Dripping again.

Now I have an open Lightbox on my workspace floor, my rebounder is covered in books and paperwork off my desk, my desk is covered in jewellery and cameras and my tripod is taking up one of the few clear floor spaces near my desk.

Wednesday morning will obviously be spent cleaning the entire room before I can get started again on my 'to do' list.

I'm still trying to source inexpensive, but good quality ring boxes, bracelet and pendant boxes.

This was dinner tonight. It's titled 'His n Hers' ...

It was Number One Son's 35 birthday yesterday. He spent it recovering from birthday drinks that he over indulged in the night before and preparing to return to work after 3 weeks on a yacht in Sydney Harbour. It's a tough life for some haha.

I had a chat with Vegan Chickie tonight, which was lovely. She and Chicklet have been very very busy socialising and enjoying life in Melbourne.

Well, it has just ticked past 10.30pm so I'm off to bed.

Much to do tomorrow!

Nite all.

What a Stinker

Today was a stinker of a day.

I woke to the sound of heavy rain this morning, which was lovely and very much needed, and I used it as an excuse to laze in bed for an hour or so, not that I EVER need an excuse! But the rain made it hot and steamy and muggy and humid. Blurgh!

Even though I began the day with enthusiasm and good intentions, it seems the universe was against me and my productivity levels were way down on yesterday's.

While I was at the stage of setting up shop, I came to a standstill when I realised that I had not photographed any of the jewellery to display on the site. I figured that today was as good a day as any to get that job ticked off the list.

I spent half an hour using my camera to photograph the pieces against the white desk, but I discovered that the camera's focusing mechanism is not working. I tried two different lenses and hit the same problem.

The light just wasn't right, but then I had an epiphany! I remembered that I actually own a light box. I bought it specifically for this kind of photography! So off I went in search of the light box, trying to remember the last time that I saw it and wondering where I should look first.

I looked in the spare room first without success, so I decided that before I wasted too much time, I would ask Adoring Husband if he knew where it was. That was a good move, because he did know exactly where it was and led me straight to it.

It had been tucked neatly between the kitchen cabinet and the filing cabinet that holds the printer. I'm pretty sure that it has been there for about three years. Maybe more!

So I took it into my workspace and opened it up, to discover that it had become a nesting ground for cockroaches. Ugh. What a mess. I'm not even going to describe the state that it was in.

I walked out of my room and slumped on the lounge chair next to Adoring Husband telling him my tale of woe. He said "Can't you just clean it?"

Yes I can and so I did.

"I will not let this beat me!!" I fist pumped the air as I walked out of the room.

After cleaning it as best as I could, I set it up on my desk and attempted a few shots. The camera was still failing me. The next best thing is my phone camera!

Clearly, my photography needs work. After thirty minutes of playing with the phone camera, I was dripping with perspiration, so I gave up for another day. I will try outside with better light tomorrow. I think the rings will look nice reflected in the glass of the outside table. A bit of experimenting won't go astray.

I spent some time itemising the jewellery, and then realised that I don't have any boxes for presenting and sending them, so time was spent online searching out some prices on those.

There is always something new to go on the 'to do' list!

I had a short but lovely visit from Woman of Many Talents today. We spent about half an hour catching up. It's been a few months since we saw each other so both of us had plenty of news to share.

Before I sign off, I'd like to thank Rebel Mardi for being my long distance 'quality control' person today. Big hugs to you.

I can't believe that it's already 11.30pm!! So much for an early night.

Nite all.

Productive

I had a very intense and productive day at my desk and I have plenty of enthusiasm to power on tomorrow and learn some stuff that I've had in the 'too hard' basket, which I've avoided for too long.

With my Himalayan salt lamp glowing and Frankincense oil diffusing beside me, I felt bright and alert and open to new information. Also, the sound of my door beads blowing in the breeze made for a very relaxing and calm environment.

This beaded curtain has been rolled up, wrapped up and stored in the shed for the last eight years. It was only found because Adoring Husband was clearing out the shed and decluttering! I love it!

I'm feeling quite tired, mentally, so I'm looking forward to getting some sleep so that I'm fresh to start tomorrow. Having said that, the weather is hardly conducive to sound sleep. It's very hot and very humid and our air conditioner is still on the blink. We are looking at 3-5 weeks, if we're lucky, before it can be replaced (it can't be repaired).

I've been so desperate for some way of getting cool, that I've been researching swimming pools!!

A swimming pool is on my vision board and something that I'm sending out to the universe, so that it becomes a reality in the near future (by near future, I mean this year).

I'm very lucky that my workspace is the coolest room in the house at this time of the year. A cool breeze blows through the window all day and I have a little fan which plugs into a USB port in the desktop which keeps me cool from the other direction.

I'm excited that the Australian Open Tennis starts this Monday!

It's 9.30pm and I'm OFF to bed!

Nite all.

   

Two Steps Forward

Two steps forward and one step back.

I'm getting there.

Slowly.

My Canberra Conference has been cancelled *insert sad face here*, but since I'd already booked everything AND I discovered that there is a Health and Wellness Festival being held in Canberra on the same weekend, I've decided to still fly down and make it a kind of retreat for myself.

After my initial disappointment, I'm quite excited about the trip now!

Anyway it's rapidly approaching midnight so check these out ...

That last one is so ME!

I'm outta here!

Nite all.

What the Hell!?

I'm sitting here nine tenths of the way through building this website and feeling totally overwhelmed!

Tiny details that don't quite match up the way they should, which then require hours of research or investigation or experimentation or back tracking to find the one little thing that I missed. Sometimes it only takes a couple of minutes to figure it out, but sometimes it takes a couple of hours.

Those are the times when I look at myself and say "What the hell were you thinking? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Here I am at the far end of 56, (to a lot of people this seems really young, and to many others it seems really old!) attempting to teach myself to build a website, and not just a simple one page or one subject website, but one with multiple pages covering multiple subjects and including a shop which sells actual products that I now possess.

This requires stocktaking, photographing, pricing, cataloguing, packaging, mailing, invoicing etc etc.

My future will now require, not only maintaining the website, but

• actively creating a weekly recipe (a long winded process) to post on the recipe page
• attempting weekly art/craft/DIY projects and both writing and photographing the step by step process to post on the' Let's Get Arty Farty' page
• providing weekly photography tips for the 'Photography and You' page, as well as running a competition for followers via Facebook and Flickr
• Providing weekly healthy habits and good nutrition information on it's own page
• Maintaining all social network pages i.e. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Flickr and Pinterest
• Writing a weekly blog post for the 'Life as Roz knows it' page
• Daily trips to the post office to send off the products that people buy (hopefully)
• Continuing to write daily for my old blog
• Writing more ebooks, some free and some for sale
• My other special project that I'm keeping under wraps until it's finished

Aside from all of that, I need to continue eating well and providing good healthful meals for Adoring Husband and myself.

I need to continue my gentle exercises, which takes at least forty minutes of my day.

I'd like to think that my business will make enough money that I can afford a cleaner at some time in the near future, so I don't have to worry about that. That may be wishful thinking.

Anyway, that's where I'm at and even though I'm not deterred and I'm still feeling excited about the prospect of being successful with this, I'm a little concerned that I've bitten off more than I can chew and I feel that my time management skills may need some work!

Now I'm off for an early night, so that I can put in a solid day tomorrow.

Nite all


 

No Show

It seems that we must be the only town in Australia that is not sweltering in ridiculously hot temperatures!

I admit that it is warm, but nothing like NSW and central QLD. I will, however, be putting my pyjamas under the cold water tap and wringing them out before I put them on tonight. The breeze from the fan will keep me cool in wet PJs!

Our bedroom is the hottest room in the house in Summer. It's situated on the front corner of the house, so two walls are on the West and South side of the house and have direct sun for most of the afternoon. With the air conditioning still out of order, it makes for quite an uncomfortable temperature.

I pedalled down to the Seat of Knowledge and spent twenty minutes with the boys this morning before making my way to the beach for a short walk. The tide was high, which only leaves a short stretch of beach accessible, but I walked up to my knees in the shallows and the water was very cool and refreshing.

I went to check the mail and grabbed a couple of groceries from the supermarket, but while I was there, a little old lady was pushing a trolley through the aisles and she stopped me and said "I really love your hat"

I thanked her and we discussed where I bought it and that it was on it's last legs, when she said "Every time I come here for holidays, I look for you, because you are my 'symbol' of this town and my holiday, with your hat and your trike."

How cool is that!? She made me feel very special!

By the time I arrived home, it was 11am, so after a bit of fluffing about, I made some smoked salmon roll ups for Adoring Husband's lunch and then prepared dinner - we would be away from home at Best Cousin in the World's farm in Gundiah all afternoon, and it would be too late to muck around in the kitchen by the time we returned.

We left at 1pm for Gundiah. The LeReve party was to start at 2.30pm and it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to reach their front door.

I was concerned when we drove up to the house, that Stephanie's car was not there.

Sure enough, when 2.30pm came and went, Best Cousin in the World phoned Stephanie, to discover that she had no idea there was even going to be a party today!! Eight people were sitting on the verandah in the hot weather, expecting to see and smell some oils, perfumes and reed diffusers!

Luckily, I took my catalogue with me, so everybody had a look and got to order what they wanted. Apparently, we will all receive a free gift for our troubles.

At least we got to enjoy this ...

I can't even tell you how beautiful it looked in real life, with the colourful edible flowers scattered through so many different fruits which were then splashed with pieces of, and the juice of a pomegranate.  All of the fruit was delicious, as was the cheese and dips. It really was spectacular.

While the party was 'not' happening, Adoring Husband and Marco Polo headed down to the river, where they climbed into the kayaks and paddled up the river for a spot of fishing. AH had a ball. So much so, that he has been pricing kayaks this evening.

While Best Cousin in the World is away next week, AH is going to have a day with MP on the river. He's very much looking forward to it!

We said our goodbyes at about 4.30pm and I was hoping to stop at the fruit n veg van on the way home to buy some lychees, but it was right on 5pm by the time we reached the spot and we had big trucks right on our clackers.

It amazes me how truck drivers complain when cars pull in front of them because they don't have enough room to stop in an emergency .. but it doesn't seem to stop them from choosing to sit so close to our tail that we can't even see their number plate in the rear view mirror!

Thankfully, we arrived home safe n sound at about 5.50pm.

Oh I forgot to mention that AH has finally taken down the Christmas lights from outside the house!!

Right now, it's 9.30pm and it might be time for me to head to bed.

Nite all.  

Danceless Tuesday

Adoring Husband and I had a disturbed night of sleep last night. Between the heat, coughing fits, full bladders and early alarms, neither of us enjoyed a sound night of sleep.

This means that I did not get to dance on the beach before coffee with the girls, as I mentioned yesterday would be my plan.

I was still able to make it to coffee by 8.30am but there were only two of us there until almost 9am! At that point, just one more arrived and then two 'ring ins' pulled up a seat and joined us for coffee. Beauty sat with us briefly on her way home from swimming.

Morning coffee isn't quite the same without Rebel Mardi and Lady Lynn.

I left the girls at around 10am so that I could drive into The Bay with Adoring Husband. We had to pick up some kombucha that we'd ordered in bulk and also had to restock my coconut ice cream.

My peppermint choc chip ice cream wasn't in stock today and I was SOOO disappointed! I stood in front of those glass fridge doors, looking at all the flavours for about ten minutes until AH said "Standing there staring is not going to make it magically appear" to which I replied "But if I look for long enough, something will jump out at me!"

And it did!

Hiding underneath another flavour, but a different brand to my usual choice, was another peppermint and choc chip!! I pounced on it so fast!

I tasted it after lunch today and OMG, it is now my favourite brand. I almost ate the whole tub, but AH convinced me that I would be disappointed if I didn't have some left for another time. I knew he was right.

After lunch, we watched the movie "Chaplin" which is 25yrs old this year! There are a lot of big names in that movie. I didn't see it in 1992 when it was released, but quite enjoyed it today.

I only had one hour at my desk this afternoon. Found a couple of glitches in my site, so I fixed one of them and will deal with the other one in the morning.

I thought this was pretty funny. I found it tonight ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4LnorVVxfw

Anyway, it's almost 10pm and you know where I am headed.

Nite all.

PS Oh! I bought some new shoes today!

10 out of 10

Yes, today is day ten of 2017 and Christmas is over ... except for us and our neighbours.

Our Christmas lights are still up and flashing brightly every night.

Every year I tell Adoring Husband that we MUST have all the lights and decorations down before the 6th January, otherwise we will have an unlucky year.

Every year, our lights and decorations are still up well after the 6th, but at least this year, the decorations inside the house, and the tree, are down and packed away.

For now, I will apologise to our neighbours for the annoying flashing lights that continue well into the new year.

Yes darling, in case you were wondering, that's a hint :)

I started this morning with an hour of reading in bed. It was very relaxing until Adoring Husband came home from mowing at the shops and proceeded to whipper snip and mow our lawns.

I'm not complaining about him doing this important household chore, and he does a good job, but the psychotic dogs live up to their name for the duration of the job. Jack in particular, freaks out, hyperventilates and needs to have his body touching mine until the noise stops.

Since Jack sleeps in a pen in our bedroom, the sound of his stressful panting was enough to get me out of bed to start my day.

Which is a good thing I suppose!

I showered and dressed and headed off on my trike, just as Adoring Husband completed the outdoor work.

I rode to the beach, parked my trike, kicked off my thongs and headed down the stairs towards the soft sand and the receding tide.

Nothing pleases me more than discovering that the caravan parks are emptying and the tourists are thinning, and our town is slowly returning to normal.

Except for two kids paddling in the shallows, I was the only one on the beach, so I decided to lift my spirits by singing and dancing and splashing through the shallow pools.

I sang "You are my Sunshine" and "You Make Me So Very Happy" and "Tea for Two" (a bit random that one) and I raised my arms towards the sky and spin around like Julie Andrews on the mountian in "The Sound of Music" and I skipped and side stepped and kicked at the water.

The water in the pools was surprisingly cool and I enjoyed a good thirty minutes out on the flats, chasing the water as the tide went out.

I 'ran' up the steps to my trike (and as a side message to The Nikonian, I didn't require CPR!).

From there, I did some grocery shopping and visited the butcher, then returned home.

I decided that before I could unpack the groceries, the fridge was in desperate need of a clean out, so I spent about 45 minutes cleaning the fridge and repacking it.

The slow cooker was dragged out of the cupboard and I prepared a whole chicken by stuffing it with butter, lemon and garlic then popped it in the pot for 5 hours on high.

By now it was 11am, so I spent an hour in my workspace before I made lunch.

A chicken burger with toasted GF bread. Delicious!

Before I could get back to my desk, I had to hang out some washing and bring some in off the line.

I got quite a lot done on my website in three hours this afternoon, so I was feeling pretty pleased with myself, but soon I had to return to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. I made a big tray of roast veg. Parsnip, turnip, pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, garlic, capsicum, chilli, cherry tomatoes and onion, drizzled with honey, sprinkled with salt n pepper and chopped fresh rosemary.

I took the juices from the cooked chicken and thickened it with some tapioca flour for gravy.

 

Presentation leaves a lot to be desired! I need to practice my presentation skills for the recipe page of my website.

That is a very large plate of food for AH, who ate the whole lot!

After dinner, I got to spend another hour at my desk before I joined AH to watch some cricket. He retired to the bedroom about an hour ago and it's now 9.30pm, so I'm going for an early night.

It's been a big day, I have achieved much and I'm feeling satisfied. I have coffee with the girls tomorrow morning, but I might make my way down to the beach for some more singing and dancing to start my day.

Nite all.

Hours of Nothing

Last night I enjoyed a fabulous eight hours sleep.

This morning I enjoyed a fabulous two hours reading in bed.

Today, I enjoyed a fabulous three hours in my workspace.

At 1.30pm I made a batch of dog food and cut Adoring Husband a piece of lime cheesecake for lunch.

This afternoon I enjoyed another three hours in my workspace.

Funnily enough, for all the time that I spent at my desk, I don't feel like I achieved very much!

I think one of my worst traits (in this particular instance) is having to know 'more'. I spend so much time googling to find out more information about what I'm doing, so that I can better understand the process.

It means that what should be a ten minute task, usually ends up being a forty minute task .. or even longer. Sometimes while I'm reading the extra information, there will be a link to even more information, which I will click on and then spend even more time reading.

Potentially, my six hours of work is the equivalent of one hour of actual productivity.

At the beginning of my day, while I was tidying my desk before starting the day, I discovered that I have accumulated a large number of journals!

I love journals.

I acquired all but two of these in the last three months, and I can't decide if it's a precious passion or a dirty addiction. I guess only time will tell.

The clean smooth feel of the pages when you first open the cover, is one of my guilty pleasures, but writing the first word in a brand spanking new journal is such a difficult thing to do! I have to remind myself that each journal needs to feel the love!

I kept two of these journals for two years because they were so beautiful, I couldn't bear to write in them, but now they have a reason for 'being' and I can tell that they are very happy!

Well, it's after 10.30pm and I'm looking forward to another fabulous eight hours of sleep tonight.

Nite all.

Simply Saturday

I woke to the sound of rain blowing against the windows this morning.

So instead of going for my morning ride, I made myself comfortable and enjoyed some morning reading in bed until around 8.30am.

As much as I wanted to go straight to my workspace, I decided that the housework had been neglected for long enough and so I spent the morning cleaning the main bathroom and toilet, sweeping floors, clearing clutter and finding homes for the shoes and handbags that I've scattered throughout the house in the last couple of weeks.

I did some washing and returned all of my journals, books and art pens to my workspace from the lounge room (which was beginning to look like an office!).

During my decluttering, I found some paperwork from the financial advisor that still needed to be read before we sign off next week, so I sat at my desk and read half of it before I decided to prepare lunch.

Adoring Husband and I watched the Aussies defeat Pakistan in the Test Cricket over lunch and then I returned to the kitchen to create some deliciousness.

Lime cheesecake with raspberry gel topping ...

It's an adapted recipe from one that I made for my LeReve party a few weeks ago. I've made my own version so that I can use it on my site, which is why it took so long to create today. Writing down every step and taking photos .. you know the drill.

I finished in the kitchen and Adoring Husband did the tag team thing and swapped places with me. He cleaned the kitchen so that I could start again and cook dinner!

Duck breast and salad, followed by Lime Cheesecake of course!

So having performed my wifely duties today (and by that I mean 'housework'), I intend to spend the next two days at my workspace. I have a very long 'to do' list that needs attention.

10.30pm and I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Time Flies!

I received a text message from Reality TV Queen early this morning, inviting me into The Bay for a bit of gambling and some lunch. It's been about 6 weeks or more since I had a gambling hit, so I jumped at the chance to join her for the day.

We stopped at Aldi first where I bought some fruit and veg. I found a newsagent to check my Powerball ticket - alas I did not win $55million - but I did find some lovely new journals (and you can never have too many journals).

We then headed to the RSL club, where we gambled to our heart's content and suffered through a roast pork lunch with very dry pork and very chewy crackle, then gambled some more before heading home. We were home by 2.30pm.

On the drive home, I received a phone call from Adoring Husband to say that he was called to work because there was a snake and he had to organise the snake catcher to come remove it. It was only a green tree snake, but it was quite large and scared a few people, including AH!

I spent the afternoon planning and booking and organising a trip down to Canberra in February for a two day conference that I'm keen to attend. I spent forty minutes figuring out the least expensive way to get there and another forty minutes organising accommodation.

By the time I'd finished, it was almost 5.30pm, so I jumped up to prepare dinner. As I sat down to eat it, I looked at my watch and saw that it was 6.20pm and suddenly realised that it was Friday night and I should have been at the club!!

Adoring Husband had asked me much earlier in the afternoon if I was going to the club, but somewhere between his question and the time that I should have been getting ready, my brain pushed the information into a dark corner where I couldn't see it!

Looking on the bright side, I got to see this lovely sunset from my front door ...

Apologies to the girls who were expecting me at the club tonight, but I bet there were a billion tourists there taking all the chairs and being noisy! Haha.

Well it's after 10.30pm. I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Creating Recipes

I pedalled down to visit the boys at the Seat of Knowledge this morning, but they had all made a run for it due to the rain - not that I would call it rain - it was really just a very fine mist.

So with nobody to sit with, I decided to take a long ride. I rode to the beach, parked the trike, kicked off my thongs at the bottom of the stairs and headed out to the waterline.

The tide was quite low, but was on it's way in, so I didn't have far to walk. I splashed through the shallows in my bare feet and walked for about 20 minutes. I didn't want to go too far because the skies were looking very ominous!

This was taken with my phone camera. I walked back to my thongs and decided to trike around town until 9am when the Post Office was due to open.

I checked for mail, bought a couple of groceries and pedalled the long way home. My completed activities for today are 4,124 steps walking and 7kms riding, but my watch is not happy with that. It tells me I need to do more. If my watch doesn't stop harassing me, I'm going to turn that button off permanently!

I wasn't feeling very motivated for working on the website today, so instead, I decided to create a recipe which I will eventually post on my new recipe page when it's up and running.

I made smoked cod and sweet potato patties. The first batch were a bit bland because I forgot to season them, but I added the seasoning before cooking the second batch and they were delicious.

As you can see, I served them with rocket, pear and walnut salad topped with my special green dressing and some kimchi on the side. The mix made 24 patties and there are only six left, so I guess that's a good indication of their taste.

It took me quite a bit longer to make them, having to write down all the ingredients and measurements as I went and remembering to stop and write down each step of the method is tricky too! Oh and I had to stop and take a photo of each step as well!

After we ate lunch, I sat on the couch and watched the cricket in between writing some more notes and adding to the outline of the new book idea.

I added another ten recipes to the list for posting on the website over the coming months, and I browsed through my recipe books to find some that I'd converted or adapted over the years.

I scoured through Pinterest and found some stuff to add to my Romance Your Life Pinterest page ... one day I will be motivated to finish that too lol.

So even though I didn't work on my actual website, I did a lot of stuff to contribute to it later, and that's ok.

Anyway it's after 10pm so I'm off to bed!

Nite all.

 

Getting Trivial

Well, unfortunately, my art class did not happen.

The teacher runs the classes in a shed in her back yard and she says it's just too hot to run classes at this time of the year, so she has gone away for a month and the classes will commence near the end of February.

It kind of suited me. It gives me a chance to focus on the website (and hopefully finish it) before I have to focus on sculpting!

Since I'd psyched myself into a day of art, I wasn't sure what to do with my time, so I rode down to see the boys at the Seat of Knowledge, bought some tomatoes for our lamb shank dinner, then went for a 6km trike ride.

I had taken a book to read down by the river, but there were too many people around (bloody tourists), so I rode home feeling a bit discombobulated.

While I was gone, Adoring Husband had returned from The Bay and was busy in the shed, finishing his new work station.

I spent an hour at my desk attaching my logo to all of my social media sites and pages, which took me to lunchtime.

Sausages were on the menu for lunch and I made an avocado mixture with chopped onion and capsicum and the yummy dressing from last night's dinner. I piled that into a lettuce cup and served it with some kimchi alongside the sausages.

After lunch I prepared the lamb shanks for the slow cooker so that we would have an easy meal before going to trivia tonight.

The website wasn't calling to me today, so I wrote in my journal, added my three notes of gratitude to my Appreciation journal and then decided to scribble some notes about a book idea that I have. I tell you, I have so many ideas spinning around in my head! Is it any wonder that I can't get to full speed on the website!

Late this afternoon we got ready for trivia, picked up The Blonde Bombshell from her house and drove to the club to meet Tweedledee and her husband The Garden Guru.

I don't think I've ever seen so many people in the club! There was a long line of people, almost all tourists, queuing to order their meals and they had filled all the tables in the room.

One of the Burrum ladies from our luncheons was sitting at a table with her family and they were finishing off their meals, so they promised us their table. In the meantime we sat with other friends chatting until the table was free.

It was loud and crowded and busy. Almost all of the tourists stayed to play trivia. There are usually about 6 or 7 teams for trivia, but tonight, there were 16!! The couple who run it, Nobody's Fool and The Cheeky Goblin, did a fantastic job, really keeping their cool under difficult circumstances and keeping everybody entertained and happy.

It was a good night and we came 7th out of the 16 teams. None of us were really on the ball tonight, and it was difficult to hear each other over the noise. I didn't answer many questions at all and of the ones I did answer, I got quite a few wrong!! Ah well, February is another month. We'll smash it in February!

Here I am breaking my New Year's Resolution ... it's almost midnight! I should have been in bed at least an hour ago!

Nite all.

Too Many Tourists

Honestly! They're everywhere!

It's tourist season and there is no escaping them. As much as I want to rant ... and I have this big spiel in my head ... I will show restraint, but I just needed to put it out there!

It was a pleasant coffee with the girls this morning, although there were only four of us.

Adoring Husband and I drove into to town for a spot of grocery shopping, where we were greeted by another overwhelming wave of tourists. Ugh.

I restocked my coconut ice cream supply, went to a closing down sale and got some bargains, bought four tops for $43 - gotta love this time of year for sales! Checked my lotto tickets and it seems my dream of becoming a multimillionaire didn't come to fruition.

We were home before 3pm and the psychotic dogs were very excited to see us .. probably because the house was like a sauna and they just wanted to get outside!

I was excited to receive my finished logos for Romance Your Life.

There are different sizes and different configurations for all the social media sites and for the website itself. These are just a few. I'm very happy with the results, especially because I got input from a couple of friends and between the designer, my friends and myself, we came up with something that I love.

It's been described as a "lush, green, fertile planet full of life, passion and fun" and "like looking into the depths of a beautiful green ocean" Those descriptions bring a smile to my heart.

I hope to be attending my first art class tomorrow, although I haven't heard from my lift, and I don't have her phone number, so I hope she hasn't forgotten me!

Now I need to get to bed, so that I can be fresh and alert and creative and artistic tomorrow!

Nite all.

Surge to a Stop

Thank goodness for a solid night of sleep!

I visited the boys at the Seat of Knowledge this morning, which was fun. They were in fine form and we had some good giggles.

From there I shopped for some vegetables to have with dinner tonight and then returned home to get started on the website.

I had a fabulously productive morning, working solidly until noon, at which time I prepared our lunch and sat with Adoring Husband while we ate.

I returned to my desk and was feeling very pleased with myself until I had to update a plugin.

I clicked the update button and up popped a message.

Computer:  'Make sure to backup before upgrading. Files and settings may get lost or changed.'
My brain:  "What?"

So I google search "How do I backup my website before performing updates?"

Twenty minutes later I'm following the instructions and another question appears, which seems totally unrelated to my current workflow.

Computer:  'Would you like to point your Domain?'
My brain:  "What?"

So I google "What does 'point your domain' mean?"

After thirty minutes of reading, I decided that I did not need to point my domain - but I still don't understand what the heck it means!

I move on. But not for long. The next question appears.

Computer:  'Do you wish to configure the account to work with a mail client?'
My brain:  "What?"

I check on my host's site to figure out if I need to do this. Twenty minutes later, I decide that I don't need to configure my account and I'm not 100% sure what that means either!

Finally I backup my website and then go to update the plugin.

I click on the update button and it takes me to a sign in screen for the plugin. It asks me for a username and password.

I open my book of usernames and passwords and there is nothing there for this particular plugin.

My brain:  "What now?"

I look at the clock and it's 4.30pm. Nothing!  That's what!  I give up for the day!

I now have a 'to do' list for tomorrow that contains twelve items and not one of them is going to be easy. I certainly hope that my caffeine withdrawals don't peak tomorrow, or I'll be in big trouble.

There is one thing I can do tonight that I will appreciate tomorrow. Go to bed early.

It's almost 10pm, so this is where I will leave you.

Nite all.

First of the Year

"I plan on starting the new year on a high, with plenty of motivation to get things done."

That is what I declared on New Year's Eve. It's now New Year's Day. How motivated do you think I was?

For a start, I was in bed last night before 11.30pm and I lay in the dark, with my eyes closed, but feeling VERY awake, until 2.30am.

I tried all of my tricks for falling asleep and obviously, none of them were successful. I didn't even have any thoughts running through my head to keep me awake. I have no idea why sleep eluded me, but the longer it took, the more annoyed I became.

I knew that my New Year's Day motivation was draining away and my energy levels would be very low with so little sleep.

Some time after 2.30am, I finally fell asleep, but strangely, I was wide awake again at 7am!

Of course, it was not helpful that I made the decision yesterday to quit coffee again, so I didn't even have the support of a nice hit of caffeine.

So I climbed out of bed and decided that a refreshing shower might help. It did. Briefly.

Pacing myself over 90 minutes, I drank my warm lemon water, followed by my beetroot, radish, carrot, raw honey, black seed oil, powdered pawpaw seed, coconut water and ginger kombucha drink of which I'd made a big batch yesterday and still had a glass leftover for this morning, and finally a large glass of filtered water.

We had leftovers from last night for lunch.

When Adoring Husband drove off to get his afternoon coffee, I threw beetroot, radish, carrot, pawpaw, ground pawpaw seed, black seed oil, coconut water and kombucha in the blender and then  poured it into a tall glass with lots of ice.

Try as I might, there was nil motivation for website work today, so instead of feeling guilty and annoyed, I decided to just write the day off and pretend it was a recovery day.

I did liaise with my logo designer and tested the designs that she sent me for Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. I wrote in my journal. I filled out some of January and February on my wall planner. I answered some emails and deleted a lot. That's about all that I accomplished today, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

The other problem with today, was the oppressive heat. I'd just finished telling The Motivator yesterday morning, that the weather here had been bearable, and ever since I opened my mouth, the weather has been stifling!

I tried to nap on the couch this afternoon and I think I had about 30 minute dozing on and off, but it was hot and Adoring Husband had the TV on full volume. That half hour helped a little.

The good thing about today (and we can always find something good), is that I've had no coffee, and as of 8.30pm, there is no sign of a headache! I may be speaking too soon, but I've been keeping myself well hydrated and making sure to consume plenty of nutrients. Let's see what tomorrow brings!

In the meantime, I'd really like to fall asleep quickly tonight and catch up from last night.

So this is where I leave you.

Happy New Year!

Nite all.

Seeing In The New Year

I'll probably be seeing the new year in behind closed eyelids!

Adoring Husband is still awake, which is very surprising considering that he has been working hard in the shed on a very hot day, making a useable workspace for himself. I expected that he would be unconscious by 7.30pm.

It is currently 10.30pm and we are watching "Singing in the Rain". It finishes at 11.30pm so we may be awake for the stroke of midnight .. though I doubt it lol.

I struggled to do anything constructive at my desk today. It was very hot (our air conditioner is still on the blink) so I found lots to do other than working on my website. I did contact my logo designer and approved her revision work on my logo.

Vegan Chickie recommended a documentary which I watched on Netflix today called "Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things." Very interesting. I am definitely not a minimalist .. you only have to look at my large pile of shoes to know that!

I repurposed an old New Years meme that I originally created in 2014 ...

... and posted it on Facebook.

Adoring Husband and I drove to the shops to get coffee this afternoon and the queue for ice creams was VERY long. Our town is filled with tourists at the moment and the caravan parks are full ... I'm guessing it's not too pleasant in those tents and camper vans!

I plan on starting the New Year on a high, with plenty of motivation to get things done!

My new year's resolution is to get more sleep. I plan on going to bed earlier and getting between 7-8 hours of sleep every night. It's probably the one bad habit that has caused me the most grief this year - 5-6 hours of sleep is not conducive to good health, so that's what I will focus on in 2017.

Having said that ... it's already after 11pm!! That's not a good start! So I'm off.

Happy New Year everybody!

Nite all.

Friday Frenzy

Today was certainly not as productive as the last two days.

I came across a couple of obstacles that brought me to a sudden stop and it took me a while to figure out what to do each time, so it was slow going.

If I'd been on as good a roll as yesterday and Wednesday, I might have foregone my Friday night at the Bowls Club and continued working, but as it was, I needed the time out as well as a couple of drinks with the girls to wind down.

We were all unlucky in the raffles, the 100 club, the lotsapots and the membership draws.

When I arrived at the club tonight, and before I walked inside to greet the girls, I decided to go take a look at the renovations that are going on at the other end of the club.

Apparently the builders are almost two weeks ahead of schedule and right now, it's easy to figure out the floor plan and layout. I estimate that it should be ready to open inside 6 weeks, if all goes well.

So here we are at 9.15pm and I am well and truly ready for bed.

Adoring Husband didn't go for the afternoon coffee run today, so there is no caffeine pumping though my veins to keep me awake until after midnight.

I'm feeling decidedly weary and I have no news, no memes, no quotes, no videos and no photos to share.

This will be very light Saturday morning reading for some.

Having an early night might mean that I can go visit my boys at the boat ramp early tomorrow.

I'm even going to beat Adoring Husband to bed!!

Nite all.

On A Roll

Another good day at the office.

I've written the first post for each of my pages on the site, ie 5 posts. I've made some more changes to the website .. I guess that's the good thing about it taking so long to complete, I get to make improvements before people even see it.

I completed a few pages of my business workbook.

Adoring Husband and I both walked along the beach this afternoon and that helped me complete my watch's bossy health check for the day. I fulfilled the exercises, the movement and the breathing requirements. Yes, I am still breathing lol.

Tonight, I stood in the kitchen for almost two hours cooking 60 chicken and pork meatballs. If I was smarter, I'd have used two frypans, which is what I would normally do, but I was a bit brain dead after my day at the desk, so like a dazed and confused stupid person, I only used one frypan and spent half of my evening in the freaking kitchen, cooking six or seven meatballs at a time.

What a doofus! They tasted pretty good though and now AH has lunch prepared for tomorrow and I can work through the lunch period.

We watched a fantastic Big Bash 20/20 game of cricket tonight. The result came down to the wire and the game was won with the very last ball bowled. The Perth Scorchers needed 3 runs off the final ball to defeat the Melbourne Renegades and Ashton Agar hit a massive six off the final ball.

We are really enjoying the Big Bash cricket every night. Television viewing is not great at this time of the year, but the cricket is holding our interest.

Even better, the tennis will be starting in a couple of weeks!!

I've just realised that it's after midnight! Gotta go!!

Nite all.

  

Good Day at the Office

Today was a good day.

I still didn't get as much done as I wanted, but I'd probably say 80% of my 'to do' list was completed.

I've changed my website address slightly, asked my designer to change one small aspect of my logo, tweaked a couple of things on my site, updated some plugins, changed some passwords, had some discussions with my domain host, used my rebounder four times, made lunch, cooked dinner, done three loads of washing and brought Adoring Husband's washing in off the line and folded it, answered and deleted many, many emails and written out tomorrow's 'to do' list.

If the next two days can be as productive as today, which they SHOULD because I don't have to do any washing AND I feel like I'm on a roll, I'm certain that the site can be live by Monday. Who knows what new obstacle will fall in front of me between now and then?  Fingers crossed it's clear sailing from here!

I only completed about half of the health activities requested of me by the bossy watch today.

Such sad news about both George Michael and Carrie Fisher this week. We've lost so many talented well known names this year. I truly admired Carrie Fisher and I really hoped that she would pull through after they announced that she was in a stable condition in hospital. I almost feel like I've lost a friend and ally.

As we edge closer to the end of 2016 and look forward to a fresh new start in 2017, I thought I'd share the last Christmassy, festive meme before the season comes to an end.

... and on that note, at 11.30pm, it's bed time for me.

Nite all.  

My Vision

Well! There is one more thing crossed off my 'to do' list for 2016.

Finally! I've completed my 2017 vision board - actually I have three more things that I want to add to it, but I don't have them at hand just yet - hopefully in the next couple of days, however, it is complete enough to remove from my desk and hang on the wall, where my eyes can view it, my brain can process it and I can both consciously and subconsciously begin to fulfil my visions for 2017.

This morning I received the first draft of my new logo from a very talented artist/graphic designer from the Canary Islands. She has done a terrific job and I love it! That should be finalised by the new year (maybe even Friday) and I'll share it here as soon as I receive it!

Coffee with the girls was fun this morning. The Blonde Bombshell brought her little granddaughter along and Tweedle Dee arrived a bit later because she had been at work.

We had some good laughs, especially at The Old Speckled Hen's expense. I wish that I could re-tell the story here, but it's not my story to tell. Just know that it was jaw dropping, gasp inducing and even brought on a squeal of horror!

I put my Apple Watch to good use today, by going for a long trike ride and spending four x ten minute stretches on the rebounder, which means that I completed over 100% of my required movement for the day. I walked for 2kms, triked for 5kms, rebounded for 40 mins and was on my feet often enough that the watch did not once tell me that it was time to stand up.

I doubt that I will put as much effort into tomorrow's activity requirements.

While I fed Adoring Husband beef casserole that I had in the freezer for dinner, I finished off the bag of lychees that the J half of The Inveterate Travellers offered me yesterday. OMG so sweet and juicy and delicious. A little bag of heaven right there.

We've had some crazy rain this afternoon, and according to a story on the NEWS tonight, we are likely to receive a few more downpours like that over the next few days.

That's fine with me, because I intend to spend the next 3 days in my workspace (while pleading with the workspace gods to not throw any interruptions my way) and I plan on making my way through my 'to do' list in the most regimented way possible.

I am absolutely determined to make some serious headway this week!

Here we are, not even 10pm and I am off to bed for an early night. If the psychotic dogs allow it, I will get a good night's sleep and be up bright an early to start a good day's work.

Nite all.

A Day Boxed Up

I wish I'd taken photos today.

I took my camera, but it sat in the ute all day.

The scenery was beautiful, the weather was cloudy and mild, the water divine, the company warm and friendly, the food delicious and the wine was just right.

Aside from the short stretch of sand driving (my second least favourite thing to do) and the also short stretch of 4WDing over hill and dale (my absolutely least favourite thing to do), it was a most pleasant way to spend Boxing Day.

We sat our chairs in the shallows of the fast flowing Mary River and let the water flow freely through the legs of our chairs and around our own feet and legs. It was cleansing and grounding and cooling and therapeutic.

Adoring Husband had a successful go on a kayak, rowing around in circles for a little while.

We really couldn't have asked for a better day, as far as weather goes, and until today, I hadn't met half of the people there, but they were pretty easy going and good for a laugh.

It was nice to catch up with The Inveterate Travellers - J&P - it's only been six years but J and I have kept in contact in our own small way, reading each other's blogs and commenting on the special events as they occur.

We chatted about her Mum in Toowoomba - I shall call her the Pearl of Wisdom *waves frantically* I know you're reading this!! I will visit you next time I am in Toowoomba!

After about five hours of fun and relaxation, it was time for Adoring Husband and I to pack up and head home.

We left with enough time to stop at Sexie Coffie before it closed at 6pm. We arrived there at 5.45pm - just in the nick of time!

The drive home this afternoon, was much more pleasant than the drive to Evergreen this morning, with much less traffic on the road this afternoon, nevertheless, I was relieved to pull into our driveway and be out of the holiday traffic altogether.

So many idiots on the road. I swear that Queensland drivers go to 'Special Risks' school. It's almost as if there is a competition giving a prize to the person who takes the biggest risk which can potentially cause the most damage and death possible.

The stretch of road between Tiaro and our turnoff has the worst statistics in QLD for car accidents and road deaths, so you can understand my discomfort, especially in holiday season.

We made it home safe n sound and are both feeling pretty relaxed after such a pleasant day. So a big thank you to The Best Cousin in the World for inviting us to your river for the day. We loved it.

My pillow is now calling me so ...

Nite all.

A Very Movie Christmas

There are two ways that I enjoy spending Christmas.

The very best Christmases are spent with family, but unfortunately, they are very few and far between.

The next best Christmases are spent at home with Adoring Husband, doing absolutely nothing.

He kindly allowed me to sleep past stupid o'clock this morning. He brought my coffee to me and then brought all the gifts from under the tree, to the bed, so we sat up in bed tearing paper off presents and making animated sounds in appreciation of our haul!

My favourite gift was ten mini metal tongs and two large stainless steel tongs. I am forever losing tongs! They disappear from my kitchen utensil drawer and I blame Adoring Husband all the time, lecturing him incessantly and practising my best nagging techniques on him.

I shouldn't run out of tongs for a while.

I also received from Adoring Husband, "Bridget Jones' Baby" dvd, an Apple Watch and a charging station. Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour gave us money, with which we bought the complete original series of Batman and Robin (for me) and some Star Trek rubbish for AH.

I bought AH a garden blower and vacuum.

So we did very well for ourselves!

It took a while to set up my watch and sync all of my devices, then I had to complete an update on my MacBook Pro.

Finally, we made ourselves presentable and went visiting. A local man in town, whom we like to label "The Major" has been inviting us around for a Christmas drink ever since we moved here, and today, for the first time ever, we knocked on his door.

He was very surprised! We were invited in and he was trying to put together his Christmas present, but had reached the point that triggered the stress hormones, so Adoring Husband followed him into the work shed and helped him. It only took ten minutes and The Mayor was very grateful.

We spent about an hour chatting with him and his wife The Happy Holidayer, before returning home for lunch.

It was a huge spread of seafood and fruit ... messy, but delicious!

After lunch, we watched the Bridget Jones movie.

The remainder of the day has been spent on the phone having Christmas chats with Bubbles and with Number One Son, and watching Christmas movies and some Batman and Robin.

Dinner was leftover seafood and salad.

And now, the day is done. Another Christmas done and dusted.

It must be time for bed.

Nite all.