My Weekend Has Ended

It's 4.37pm and I am still in bed, having worked all day on various things.

• Partially written our first newsletter
• Edited some of our website and watched some tutorials on the inner workings of it.
• Did a little research on creating my online course.
• Selected a date for a one day photography workshop.
• Read some more of one of The Gypsy's books.
• Started to write a description of the damaging rain events in our shop - to hopefully get things moving with our repairs.
• Had a mini nap
• Edited a couple of photos.
• Writing my blog post for the day.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the day, however, I didn't get any washing done ... oopsy!

It's been warm enough today that I've had the pedestal fan on since lunch time, but thankfully, Higgins Storm Chasers have advised that the weather will be taking it's second stint at trying to be Winter this weekend!

I'm excited.

It's time to climb out of bed to cook dinner - think I'll make a chicken curry.

Might throw a load of washing in the machine first.

I'm looking forward to being in The Happy Abode again tomorrow. Even though I enjoy my days off, I actually miss being in our shop.

Have a fabulous Friday!

Nite all.

One Down

I stayed in bed until 1.30pm today.

I made a 'to do' list which included things like

• work on The Happy Abode website
• work on the romanceyourlifewithroz website
• read Annemarie's books
• do some more DDT manifesting course
• create the next workshop
• create a newsletter for The Happy Abode
• do more with THA's instagram/twitter/pinterest accounts

... there is more on my list, but you get the gist. There is a LOT to work on. It's just a matter of time ie finding the time and using it effectively. I seem to get more done while sitting up in bed during the day, than at any other time!

The only reason I got out of bed at 1.30pm was because I had an appointment with The Gypsy to have a Zen Shiatsu massage at 2.15pm.

I was surprised at how many tight spots I had and how tender certain parts of my body were. She worked on all the parts that needed it and then gave me some stretches to practice to help gain more movement in the tightest parts such as my neck, hips and groin.

It seems that my kidneys, bladder, liver and heart are struggling at the moment. I will follow her advice and work on fixing these areas.

After my massage, Adoring Husband and I went for a short stroll along the beach so that I could do some grounding. We were only there for about ten or fifteen minutes, but I could feel the benefits, especially after taking my superhero pose in ankle deep sea water!

We did a little grocery shopping and then came home to rest for an hour before making a quick dinner and then getting ready for our trivia night at the club.

As always, we had a really enjoyable night with Tweedle Dee (new name yet to be decided) and the Garden King. None of us was feeling very clever tonight and came somewhere in the middle of the pack. The teams are only supposed to be four strong but there were a lot of teams with seven and eight members ... difficult to compete against.

Having said that - feeling clever helps - and we were not feeling it at all.

Tomorrow is my Sunday and I'm not sure how I'm going to spend it yet - perhaps I'll work on the websites.

The Motivator had a great day in the shop today and I hope that she can repeat that tomorrow.

I'm off to bed now.

Nite all.

My Weekend

Today is my Friday.

Wednesday and Thursday will be my weekend.

My plan for tomorrow is to stay in bed for as long as I want. Do some washing. See The Gypsy for a massage and perhaps go for a grounding walk along the beach.

Today was incredibly quiet in the shop for the first half of the day because there was a 'timbola' at the local hall from 9am - midday, so there were over 100 people in attendance there, which meant that they were NOT in our shop.

The afternoon was quite different as the people trickled in through the doors declaring that they'd heard about us at the timbola or saw somebody with one of our carry bags.

A large group of about ten people filled the shop for half an hour bringing an interesting energy and lots of busy chatter and noise.

One member of that group was a man with cerebral palsy in his 30s who lectured me because our pens didn't all have prices on them. We have the pens grouped in similar styles with one price placed in front of each group. He didn't like that idea and told me how it should be done. I thanked him for his excellent advice and agreed that we should do exactly as he suggested. He bought one of the pen sets.

I spent a lot of time cleaning all of our silver chains (about 20 of them) which took a bloody long time because I had to take the price tags off them first and then remove the hexagonal clasps. I dipped them in the silver cleaner and swished for ten seconds, then rinsed them under cold water, dried them off with a soft towel, reattached the clasps and replaced the price tags.

It took about 90 minutes, but now they are so shiny and sparkly clean!

I cleaned out one of the cube displays, dusted and replaced the stock.

One of our local artists, whose art we sell, dropped in some more of her work and I fell in love with and bought this ...

... it effects me emotionally! I just had to have it! The colours and the textures are stunning and I have no idea where I'm going to put it, but it's now MINE! I'm not sure about the black frame, so I'm going to look into some other options - I might visit my framer in town and see what suggestions he can come up with.

I'm happy that Wimbledon has now begun and I'm going to watch some of it before I head to bed tonight. Kyrgios is playing right now - I'm not his biggest fan, but he IS Aussie, so I will barrack for him.

Nite all.  

All Done In

It's been a big day!

I had a very early start for meditation, but along the way, I rode past Kindly Kel and had to stop to give him a hug. His eyes were looking so sad just a week after his Garden Fairy passed from this earth, so I needed to stop.

After a hug and a short chat, I had to cut the conversation short to get to work because I knew that The Gypsy was waiting for me to open the doors for her.

We had a good meditation class this morning that generated lots of conversation and triggered some great revelations.

It was a very slow start to the day, but by 10am the customers were coming thick and fast.

Adoring Husband came to visit twice, but I was too busy to stop and chat.

Considering most of the businesses along our strip were closed today, we had a very successful Monday in the shop and I seemed to spend a lot of time chatting to the male partners as the women browsed and made their selections.

I put together a box of goodies from the shop, valued at over $100, that we are going to give away as a prize on our Facebook page.

We have almost reached 300 'likes', so to promote our page and our shop, we are going to challenge people to share our post and tag their friends until we reach 300. At that point we will choose a winner.

The Gypsy's last appointment went a little over time and by the time I pulled everything in, closed the door and did my groceries, I didn't arrive home until after 4pm, by which time Adoring Husband was all dressed up and ready to leave the house for a big SES meeting tonight.

I made myself some stuffed mushrooms with a pork snag for dinner which was very satisfying and now I'm ready for bed at just after 8.30pm!

I'm well and truly done in and I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep ready for coffee morning with the girls tomorrow.

Nite all.

Unlazy Sunday

There was no lazing all day in bed today.

The date was made with friends to attend breakfast at the local cafe at 8.30am, so we were up and at'em much earlier than the usual Sunday.

I enjoyed a plate of bacon and fried mushrooms with GF toast and a GIANT mug of latte. Everybody ordered something different and it was a really enjoyable and relaxing morning with good food, good coffee and good friends.

We said our goodbyes and both Adoring Husband and I had missions that we needed to complete before we return home to enjoy a relaxing Sunday.

We needed to take photos of the communal toilets at the shops where lots of repairs, repainting and renewing need to be done. AH had to send them through to the 'powers that be'

Following that, we had to attach a big Happy Abode sign to a fence near our shop, so that took about twenty minutes and then we were free to enjoy our Sunday.

Our day was spent on Netflix.

It was great!

Yesterday I got a message that it was the last day of our Flickr challenge, so I logged into Flickr to find out what the challenge was. It was 'Negative Space' so I put a quick pic together and submitted it. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm having an early-ish night ready for an early meditation start tomorrow.

Nite all.

Super Tired

This will be short and sweet because I am super tired and I'm off to bed.

I left bright and early for work this morning and got to spend twenty minutes with the boys at the Seat of Knowledge.

They were being harassed by a little 14 month old girl 'Crazy Z' who was as bright as a button, giggling all over the place and full of beans. They were loving every minute of it! It was a happy start to my day.

There were customers waiting well before 9am so I opened early to serve them.

The next hour was dead as a doornail, but from there we were kept pretty busy with a steady flow of people through the door.

There was enough time between customers or with both of us taking turns to serve them as they came in, to work on our vision boards. Mine is almost finished, with all of my pictures, words and quotes glued in place and all I need to do is add my own creative artwork.

The Motivator made great inroads into her vision board too.

We've been trying to create these boards since around February!

We made a big order of Ivys bags, hats and scarves which we hope will be delivered by the end of next week.

Our doors weren't closed until around 2.30pm and it was almost 3.30pm when I arrived home.

We have a breakfast date with friends in the morning so I need a good nights sleep to be up bright and early again.

Have a great Sunday.

Nite all.

Farewell Lovely

Today, we farewelled the Garden Fairy.

It was a lovely graveside service and her husband, Kindly Kel, was surrounded by friends and family as we fondly remembered her beautiful smile and bright loving eyes and we heard stories about her life, her garden and her family.

It was a glorious day with clear blue skies, the birds were singing loudly in the trees and there were kangaroos grazing all around us. A picture perfect day.

From the cemetery, we drove to the HB Hotel where there was a spread of nibbly food, tea and coffee and where everybody mingled and explained how they knew the Garden Fairy and gave a short history of their friendship. It was quite lovely to hear their stories.

Adoring Husband and I didn't stay for long and after we said our goodbyes, feeling quite peckish, we decided to lunch at AquaVue. I had an all day breakfast of GF pancakes with bacon and banana, while AH enjoyed GF salt and pepper calamari with salad.

We walked across the road to the crystal shop where I purchased some selenite, citrine and smokey quartz.

We walked to Go Natural, but first stopped at 'Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves' where I bought a top that was on sale at 50% off. A Ruby YaYa top that even at 50% off was still pricey, but beautiful.

We stocked up on organic salad items, GF coconut ice cream, hemp and blueberry coconut yoghurt and chunks of organic 70% dark choc for grating over our desserts.

The day passed so quickly and we arrived home at 3.30pm which gave us an hour to unpack our goodies and get ready for the club.

No luck for me, but it was nice to sit with the girls and get poked and prodded by Beauty while she checked out my new top. Freaky girl she is.

I'm looking forward to my Saturday morning at the shop, but I'd best get some sleep. It'll be midnight before I know it!

Nite all.  

Rapid Rate

That's how fast the day went ... at a rapid rate.

The Motivator was back with a vengeance and there was a slow but steady flow of customers through the door.

I've set the date for my next photography workshop ...

I've also planted the seeds for the newest workshop which will be 'Take Control of Your Health and Happiness" but it probably won't see the light of day until the end of Winter. I'm working on it.

I've got ideas popping up everywhere.

They will always be slow going as I precariously balance my time between work, family, friends and me. If the balance isn't right, nothing else will work. Patience is a virtue.

It would have been my Mum's 78th birthday today, so I created a Facebook post especially for her.

She would have rolled her eyes and shook her head at that.

Here it is after 10pm so I'd best get some sleep. I have the day off tomorrow and there is a funeral to attend.

Have a fabulous Friday everyone!

Nite all.

Another Hump Day

It was a very slow start to the day in the shop.

Our first customer didn't walk through the door until about 11am. The first customer was actually a group of eight ladies who were in the shop for 45 minutes and, between them, spent $15. They did, however, bring lots of positive happy energy.

They had visited our shop the day before and they spent a lot of money on that occasion. They brought more ladies with them today, so they are spreading the word through the caravan park and that means a lot to us.

There was a steady flow of customers throughout the afternoon but I still had enough time to create a new flyer for the photography workshops, print out the latest ad from the newsletters and replaced the one on the front window with the latest copy.

My plan is to create our first newsletter to send out to our email list. I guess that now we are almost a year old, it's time to get into some kind of schedule of news/events for the shop and let everyone know what's going on.

The Gypsy was in the shop today and I always enjoy our chats about anything and everything.

The Motivator popped in briefly this afternoon and I'm looking forward to spending tomorrow in the shop with her. There is so much to catch up on!

I've taken two new names for the next photography workshop and the town Friendship group has asked me to be their guest speaker in August or September, to talk about photography. That was a bit of a pleasant surprise!

So it's all happening in my world!

I found this to be absolutely hilarious and I wish I'd been able to use it with my kids when they were little ...

Now it's time to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.

Nite all.

Crazy Busy

It was a crazy busy day in the shop.

I barely had the chance to sit with the girls for coffee again - that’s two busy Tuesdays in a row!

There was no chance to sit down at all until well after 12.30pm and even then, the rest periods were brief.

I had a lot of fun with some of the ladies who came in groups and who will be returning in the coming days.

I heard lots of stories. Funny stories. Sad stories. Family stories. Holiday stories. Medical stories. Death stories. Life stories. Animal stories. Weather stories. Shopping stories. Husband stories.

Everybody was on a roll today.

Adoring Husband helped me close the shop today, which was very much appreciated, because I had the pleasant task this afternoon, of delivering some photos from a shoot I did a couple of months ago. Thankfully my client was happy with my efforts thus far - I still have a few more pics to edit yet.

I am watching an interview with author Tim Winton, who is talking about males/boys/men and their attitudes towards/about females/girls/women. This is the first time that I’ve seen him or heard him speak and I’m warmed and inspired by his words of wisdom. I like him.

It’s already 10pm. I need sleep.

Nite all.

I Do Like Mondays

I was excited to go to work this morning and I arrived bright and early - though not as early as The Gypsy!

She was waiting in the car park when I parked my trike at the back door.

Even though I went to bed early last night, it was stupid o’clock by the time I fell asleep.

I listened to 2 x twenty minute meditations, but even with my mind quiet, my body felt energised and I just couldn’t relax enough to fall asleep. I refused to look at the clock, for fear of adding pressure, because I knew I had to be up extra early for meditation.

It felt like I was asleep for about 20 minutes when the alarm woke me and it was difficult to climb out of bed and get moving, but I got to work with time to spare.

It was another good day in the shop and still the annual holiday makers are strolling in and admiring our space.

Queensland had a disappointing loss in the State of Origin last night - but at least we got to see some rare NSW Blues supporter’s smiles, including Adoring Husband’s!

Now I need some sleep to make up for the lack of it last night.

Nite all.

Exhausting!

Twenty minutes in and I'm exhausted!

State of Origin - QLD vs NSW - Game two

A vital game for QLD because we lost the first game. We need this to keep the series alive.

I'm wearing my QLD dreads and my silver QLD charm necklace that my sister 'Squirt' bought for me years ago.

It's even more exhausting when you have a NSW Blues supporter sitting beside you in the lounge room!

Ugh!

I have done exactly what I planned to do today ... all of my washing ... and nothing else.

I needed a 'think nothing, do nothing' day.

Thank you Universe for providing it.

I do have everything prepared for my early start tomorrow morning, so there will be no rushing or stressing before our early meditation.

I'm looking forward to a fabulous week at work.

Nite all.

My Pleasure

It was so nice to be back at work today.

There were lots of customers to fill my morning and in between, I wandered through the shop admiring our wares and feeeeeeeeeeling the serenity.

More annual visitors are arriving in town and questioning whether we were here this time last year, which of course, we were not BUT we are getting close to one year open!

I guess we should start thinking about a birthday celebration to share with the community!

Adoring Husband dropped me off at work this morning but forgot that we close at 1pm on Saturdays and I had to message him at 2.30pm to come get me. It was ok because I had plenty to do and a couple of late customers dropped in before I brought in the flags and signs.

I was very spoilt this afternoon, when AH cooked roast chicken and vegetables in the barbecue. He did the chicken on the rotisserie and made some gravy with my chicken bone broth. We had potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, onion, asparagus and broccoli.

He still has great cooking skills and it was delicious!

He's in bed right now and I just took the dogs in ... he was laying in the bed with the lights out and no TV (very unusual) but said he was listening to some hooning in the distance and was waiting to hear a crash. I hope not.

I received a private message on Facebook today, from a friend's daughter (who I also consider a friend) and she is marrying her girlfriend in Melbourne in November this year. She has asked me if I will do the photography for her wedding!

I feel incredibly honoured that she has asked me, but I haven't made a decision yet. There is much to consider and a few questions that I need answered, as well as discussing it with some important people who will be affected by my decision.

I am strongly leaning towards a 'yes' but we will see.

Tomorrow is Sunday and I have some washing to do, but aside from that, it's going to be a lazy day for me. I can't wait.

I'm even having an early night tonight!

I just saw an ad for Fox Classics movie channel having a Doris Day week of movies next week! OMG I love Doris Day. I'll be watching!

Enough from me for now.

Nite all.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet!

That's how fast the five days went by!

We left a bit too early to drive No. 1 Son straight to the airport, so we stopped at Hervey Norman's to pick up my photos.

While we were there, we looked at some toasters, because two of the four slots in our ten year old toaster no longer work.

We happened across some 'end of the range' kitchen appliances on sale for less than half price and decided to buy a matching kettle and toaster in this gorgeous yellow ...

... unfortunately, when we arrived home, we discovered that one of the elements in the new toaster also didn't work, so Adoring Husband took another trip into town to return it. We were told when we bought it that it was the last one in the shop, so we were expecting to have our money returned, but it turns out that Bundaberg has one there, so it will be sent down next week.

From there, we drove to the airport and enjoyed a coffee while we waited with No. 1 Son for his flight to depart. The plane arrived at the time when he should have been boarding but we said our farewells and AH and I left the airport as the plane landed on the tarmac.

We drove across town to Tinkerbells where, on Wednesday, I had seen a ring that I thought would look fabulous with the turquoise pendant I bought a few months ago. I took the pendant with me today because I wanted to check that the colour closely matched it. It wasn't a perfect match, but was close enough for me, so I bought it. It was on sale at 40% off so that was my second bargain for the day!

After my time off this week to spend with No. 1 Son, The Motivator is going to take a few deserving days off, so I'd best get some sleep so that I can be bright and breezy for work tomorrow.

I'm excited to be returning to the shop.

Nite all.

Feelin' Racy

Today was RACE DAY!!

The challenge was on!! Had to triple tie my hair in a bun, zip up the jacket, double hair net for extra protection, squeeze on the helmet, slide the sunnies through the eye slot...

... struggle to get down low into the go kart seat ... then to discover that the pedals and steering wheel were in a position that my dodgy knee couldn’t manoeuvre around.

So my money was refunded and I had to watch Adoring Husband and No. 1 Son from trackside.

The boys chased each other around the track for thirty minutes, both of them experiencing mishaps on the track, but nothing to cause injury.

I had psyched myself into enjoying this adventure for what it was, so I was quite disappointed when I couldn't fulfil the challenge.

Afterwards, we shopped til we dropped - for stuff that we needed at home and also for the shop. We grabbed some sushi for lunch while we were at Stocklands and on the way home, we planned to go fishing on the beach.

We stopped at the shop to drop off the mail and the purchases that I'd made at Office Works while AH ordered our coffee and No. 1 Son bought some bait for the fishing trip.

After I unpacked the groceries and AH organised the fishing rods and tackle box, we drove to the beach where the boys fished and I walked the sand with my camera ...

No fish were caught but we felt the serenity, breathed the fresh air, felt the sand between our toes (well I did anyway) and enjoyed the beauty of nature for almost two hours.

Empty handed, we returned home to prepare an easy dinner of steak on the barbecue, buttered mushroom and onions, boiled potatoes in the jacket and a big garden salad.

Fruit whip ice cream for dessert followed by disappointment that the usual football is not on TV this weekend!

I'll be requiring another early night to bed and tomorrow we will be farewelling No. 1 son because his five days are all over red rover. How quick was that?! Crazy quick.

I think he had a good time. There was not a lot of excitement, but I think that's the idea of having a holiday from Sydney ... the serenity and the laziness and the stress free environment. It was all about the food and the complete lack of pressure.

I've enjoyed having No 1 Son here and I hope he doesn't leave it another five years before visiting us again. AH has enjoyed No. 1 Son's company as well. Even though the boys ganged up on me a bit, I'm tough and can handle it! 

Bloody Blues supporters!

Nite all.

Whaaaaat????

I had a boy's look.

Go-carting was on our 'to do' list this morning. I checked the website which said 'Open 7 days week 9.30am - 5.30pm' but what I failed to notice was that those hours are only during school holidays!

The remainder of the year, they are open Thursday - Sunday. Today is Wednesday.

Ugh.

So, we decided to have an early lunch at Enzos on the Beach before heading out to Gundiah to visit Best Cousin in the World on the farm.

Adoring Husband and I chose the Nachos Moo because it was one of the few GF options available. AH loved it but I thought it was a bit ordinary. No. 1 Son had the curry of the day and even though it tasted good, it was a small serve for the cost of $24. The view and the perfect weather made up for any food shortfalls.

It seemed like a long drive to Gundiah and I thought it would never end, but we finally made it and were greeted with the sight of these gorgeous little fluff balls.

I had a very long cuddle with one of them, which I named Trevor, and he was the only puppy still available, but thanks to Adoring Husband, common sense prevailed and no deal was done! (That's Trevor lying down right at the back)

The boys went for a drive around the farm while BCITW and I chatted over a glass of wine.

After a couple of hours we headed home where AH cooked our steaks on the barbecue and I prepared a couple of salads to go with. After dinner I made a big batch of chocolate soft serve ice cream.

Here it is, almost 9pm and once again, I am feeling very weary.

I've accepted No. 1 Son's challenge to race the boys in the go carts tomorrow, so I'd best get an early night so that I'm fresh and alert for the big event!

Nite all

It's Cold

For the second day in a row, I wore clothes with sleeves!

That's when you know it's cold.

Number One Son walked beside my trike to work and helped me open the shop, which was lovely.

We had another full house for morning coffee with the girls, but it was so busy in the shop that I didn't even get to sit with them, which was kind of bitter sweet.

When it got quiet, a delivery of stock arrived, which meant there were two deliveries to process because one had arrived the day before as well.

I had time to price yesterday's products, but The Motivator will have the happy task of pricing today's delivery.

The last hour was filled with a grey nomad couple who were in for a chat. No 1 Son chatted with the husband while I tempted the wife to purchase. I failed, but they are here for another six weeks and I think she will return this week to buy a birthday gift for a family member.

Tonight was an easy dinner of take away from the cafe which we ate at the Lions Park on dusk. It was very mild weather and the colour in the sky was pretty. We sat there for about thirty minutes enjoying our food until we could feel the chill in the air and we decided to drive home to the comfort of our lounge room.

We've lived here for ten years and this is the first time that we've used the air conditioner for heat. Apparently Adoring Husband used it once while I was away on a road trip, but it's never been used in the house while I've been at home.

We turned the heat on tonight for a while, but AH turned it off when he went to bed an hour ago and now I have the fan directly aimed at me ... go figure.

There are plans afoot for tomorrow and it's now almost 9.30pm so I'm off to bed. I feel surprisingly tired.

Nite all.

He's Baaaa-aaaack!

After five years, Number One Son has returned and arrived safe n sound.

We picked him up from the airport at lunch time.

Because the light is so bright behind the entrance tunnel to the airport, everybody is a black silhouette as they enter the terminal so I had trouble recognising him from all the other big tall men with hairy faces!!

We decided on Aqua Vue for lunch, ran some errands around town, stopped at Dr Dan's, ordered some photo prints from Hardly Normal's and drove home where we gave Number One Son a tour of the shop, introduced him to The Motivator and helped bring everything inside so that she could shut up shop.

Finally, we made our way home.

The Psychotic dogs gave him a loud and crazy welcome, but have settled now and spend a lot of time staring at him.

I think No 1 Son has brought the Winter weather with him because even 'I' am wearing long sleeves today and tonight!

After such a big day, everyone is now snug and warm in bed and I am about to follow suit. I'm working in the morning and I'm looking forward to having coffee with the girls.

*yawn*

Nite all.

Done and Dusted

It was another AMAZING day of the workshop and now it's all over.

The ladies were fantastic. Their camera knowledge improved so much over the weekend as they shared information and supported each other. Then we enjoyed time on the beach putting everything into practice.

It really didn't feel like work at all and I was impressed not only with the way their photography improved over two days, but also by their warmth, laughter and generosity.

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire weekend and feel so grateful to have been able to inspire these ladies and share the time with them.

Over the years, photography has brought me so much joy on so many levels, and now I've found yet avenue to enjoy the craft. I really hope that this is the beginning of many inspirational weekends of photography pleasure!

I got an early night last night and was in bed well before 9.30pm and asleep before 10pm. I didn't set my alarm because I always wake at 6am, at which time I can decide whether to go back to sleep or get up.

As Murphy's Law should dictate, Adoring Husband had to wake me at 8am!! This meant that I had slept for ten hours!! Unheard of, and it also meant that I had to rush around like a chook with it's head cut off to get to the class on time!

Ugh.

I arrived at the shop at 8.50am and the ladies all arrived smack on 9am, so it all worked out in the end.

Tomorrow, Number One Son arrives for a five day visit!

It's been four years since BGWLBH and I visited him in Oakey during a road trip and it's been five years since he was here for a visit.

That's a LONG time!

I'll have Monday, Wednesday and Friday off to spend some time with him.

So I'd best get some sleep so that I can be bright and breezy when he arrives tomorrow!

Nite all.

Love My Work

I need to declare how much I LOVE teaching photography.

This is only my second workshop, but the happiness that I feel when my students 'get' what I'm telling them is almost overwhelming.

The beaming smile that happens when they learn something unexpected, but meaningful to them, is a joy to behold.

The gasp of excitement when they realise that something they believed would be difficult to learn is easier than expected, is music to my ears.

When they actually put what I teach into practice and they get the result 'I' asked for, well that's an amazingly satisfying feeling for both of us.

Today was like that.

I felt that my students left the class at the end of the day, exhausted but on a high, full of gratitude, and looking forward to day two.

I'm looking forward to day two as well!

This is a small, intimate and friendly group of four ladies who were each warm and welcoming as the next one walked through the door and who all spent the day helping each other find the different dials, buttons and settings on their cameras.

We spent an hour in the morning practicing what they'd learnt about ISO, aperture and shutter speed indoors and then an hour in the afternoon at the beach practicing the same outdoors. I was surprised at how quickly they got the hang of it and how easily they understood which dials to use to change each of those settings.

They are a clever bunch of ladies.

The Motivator made a fresh batch of GF brownies which were still warm when she arrived at the shop. There was enough for morning and afternoon teas and there is still more for tomorrow! One of the ladies brought along a savoury dip with celery and carrot sticks which she shared with everyone. We also had fresh grapes and strawberries with tea and coffee.

Nobody touched the jug of water that I had in the middle of the table! Naughty ladies!

Meanwhile The Motivator had a VERY busy morning in the shop with lots of customers and good sales.

After everybody left, I had to clean up the room, wash all the coffee cups and set up the trays ready for tomorrow's morning tea, so it was after 3.30pm when I left.

On the way home, I had to drop in to see a lady who did my first photography workshop. She loves to chat so by the time we finished talking business and then finished talking pleasure, I didn't arrive home until 5pm!!

Adoring Husband had cooked a roast lamb during the day for lunch so we used the last of that to make toasted sandwiches for dinner - a nice easy dinner because I was positively exhausted!

I didn't get to sleep until around 3am this morning and my alarm woke me at 6am so I've been running on three hours of sleep all day. I was in bed at 1.30am but just couldn't relax enough to fall asleep - even running through my mediation app twice didn't help.

It's probably not surprising that I've misplaced my keys twice today and my phone once. I guess I should be grateful that they were my only 'running on empty' problems all day.

It's now 7.30pm and even though my beloved Broncos are playing the Sharks in the footy tonight, I doubt that I will see the game to it's completion. I feel that sleep will claim me before then. I have actually tipped against my team tonight and already they are looking fantastic and are winning 12-nil!

Have a fabulous Sunday everybody!

Nite all.  

Midnight Madness

Yes! It's well after midnight and I am just off to bed.

I've spent the evening finishing off my course and printing out the info sheets and assignments.

I need to be up at 6am so that I can put the folders together in the morning before the class begins.

I also need to go to the supermarket and organise some food for morning and afternoon teas!

The pressure is on.

Luckily, my class has reduced from seven to four. Three of the original ladies had the wrong kind of camera. What they believed to be a DSLR was not!

So they will do one of my point and shoot workshops at a later date and I can focus my attention on the four ladies who will be in the class tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm off to bed, but before I go, we received some new stock in the shop today and here is your sneak peek!

Nite all.

Not So Restful

My second day off work started with the alarm waking me at 4.40am.

Ugh.

The Motivator picked us up at 5.10am and we drove to the train station and dropped Adoring Husband off to catch the train to Brisvegas.

Upon my return home, I climbed back into bed for about two hours.

I rode to the Post Office and checked the mail, bought some coffee and some groceries, then dropped off the paper bags to The Happy Abode.

I returned home and did a couple of loads of washing, put a casserole in the slow cooker, made some Hainan Chicken, Curried Chicken and a big pot of Bolognese Sauce all now in the freezer for future meals.

I watched a movie and cleaned up the kitchen.

The Motivator picked me up at 8.25pm so that we could return to the train station and pick up AH when the train arrived.

He ate a big bowl of beef casserole for a late dinner and climbed into bed feeling exhausted after his big day.

The Professor was very happy with how AH is managing the PD so nothing is changing for now.

Here we are at 11pm and I'm ready for bed.

Short and sweet tonight.

Nite all.

Movie Date

I planned to be up bright and early this morning to get some housework done before Adoring Husband and I headed off for our date day.

Motivation, however, was a problem and I couldn't even get out of bed until thirty minutes before we had to leave.

Unsure of the roadwork situation between here and The Bay, we left with plenty of time to spare, just in case of holdups. Our concerns were unfounded and we arrived early at the cinema.

I wanted to see "I Feel Pretty" because it was the final session at the cinema and only $5 admission, so AH left me to watch that one alone (oh how I love to go the movies alone!) while he ran some errands around town.

We caught up after that movie to go into the next one "Oceans 8" together.

I enjoyed both movies very much! I think my favourite was "I Feel Pretty"

After the movies, we did some shopping. I really wanted to buy some organic fruit and veg from Go Natural, but I feel that AH has a mental block regarding this desire, and we didn't get there. He sucks.

*insert sarcastic smiley face here*

We spent quite some time at Stocklands where I searched for some white 3/4 length tights to no avail. Instead I purchased three pairs of white 3/4 pants. Being the end of the financial year, there are some good sales on at the moment, so it was worth the search.

It was after 5pm when we finally reached home and by the time we unpacked the shopping/groceries, it was time to prepare dinner. We were supposed to go to trivia tonight, but we were both exhausted from the day and we have a super early start tomorrow morning to catch the train to Brisvegas for AH's specialist appointment.

We pulled out of trivia - which was kind of disappointing, but necessary.

I haven't slept well for the last two nights so I'm feeling a tad weary. Hopefully tonight will be different and I'll sleep soundly.

That's totally it from me.

Nite all.

Evilly Me

I'm sitting here, by myself, giggling in the lounge room.

Adoring Husband and I each have a fan directly across from our lounge chairs on the opposite side of the room.

My fan is a tall tower, it no longer oscillates and seems to be much less powerful than it once was, while Adoring Husband's is a tall, powerful pedestal fan that oscillates perfectly. He never puts it on oscillate and has it aimed directly at his chair all the time.

Every time he goes to bed, I change the direction of his fan so that it's aimed at my chair and I change the speed to a couple of notches faster than he likes it.

Every day, he changes it back to suit him and then every night I change it again.

Tonight, I found it highly amusing and couldn't help laughing out loud as I once again changed all the settings! It was an evil laugh - even if I do say so myself!

We had a big crowd at the shop for coffee this morning and the last of the ladies left at 11am. We had spillage and panic and laughter and noise all morning.

There was a slow flow of customers through the door all day. A lot of tyre kickers, but all happy and friendly.

I wore a pair of Colorado half boots similar to these ...

... mine are a few years old now, but while I was at work today, the sole partially came away from the top part of the shoe. Ugh!! So I spent the day clomping around the shop hoping that it wouldn't completely come apart.

Oh my goodness! Oh dearie me! I may have to buy a new pair of shoes!!

Adoring Husband and I have a date day tomorrow. I have two days away from the shop and we are going to the movies. I hope to see two movies. 'I Feel Pretty' with Amy Schumer and 'Oceans 8' with a gazillion famous faces.

I'll give you my critique tomorrow.

Once again, it's after 11pm so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Meditation Fail

i jumped out of bed bright and early, prepared for work and left the house well before 7am, pedalling to the shop so that I could open up early for The Gypsy to set up for meditation classes.

The Gypsy usually arrives around 7.10am but this morning, when she still was nowhere in sight by 7.20am, I checked my phone for a message, only to discover that she had sent a text at 4am telling me that she was too ill to come in!

At that moment, our most regular and reliable client walked in with her adult son. She was closely followed by one other lady who, due to family commitments, attends intermittently.

I knew that I simply was not prepared to run a meditation class on my own, so I offered them a cuppa and a morning chat in our lounge area. One of the ladies seemed keen until the other’s son asked if he could pitch a product to me, so she made a rapid escape while he prepared to pitch.

I was not prepared to begin my week feeling stressed, so I dealt with the dilemma the best way I could. Nobody minded being turned away and they are still keen to return next week, so it all worked out in the end.

It was a slow morning, but the afternoon picked up and I was able to make some biz phone calls and respond to some biz emails, update our social media cover page and take some pics to post on Facebook. That turned out to be fruitful, generating two good sales!

This is what I made on Sunday ...

... I have $42million in my own currency!

Gawd, it’s after 11pm and I need to sleep!

Nite all.

The Next Project

So, now that things are somewhat settled with The Happy Abode, we have created a routine of sorts and are comfortable with our progress, though certainly NOT resting on our laurels and ALWAYS looking at developing new ideas and creating change when necessary, I am now looking at a new project.

This project was always a part of my 'to do' list and an integral part of creating income to supplement the shop and the in-house workshops. This idea will also be integrated into mini workshops at the shop if I plan it correctly.

My idea is to create online programs and courses.

At this stage, I have two in the pipeline. One is for health, wellness and happiness. There will be a choice to either follow a step by step program that introduces lifestyle changes to improve your health and wellness OR a choice to pick and choose the changes that you want to slip into your current lifestyle that will still significantly improve your health and happiness.

The second idea is a photography course that also follows a program and includes practical challenges that will ultimately improve skills and add to the experience and expertise of budding photographers with any type of camera.

At the moment, I've joined a website that provides the training for creating these courses and programs and it also provides the platform to build them. I imagine that it will be a slow process considering my other commitments, and how slowly my brain absorbs technical jargon, but I'm excited about the possibilities!

While doing some initial research for my first program, I came across this video of  93 year old Charles Eugster doing a TED talk. He died three months before his 98th birthday of heart failure, but he was a strong and fit fellow enjoying many sporting accomplishments and successes in his nineties and certainly living life to the fullest.
 


Here is a story about him ... Charles Eugster

I hope to share some inspirational videos and stories about the older generation of health conscious humans on the planet who have changed and improved their health situations for the better.

So my lovely friends and readers will get the benefit of my research and hopefully pick up a few tips along the way!

There is a very big storm skirting around us, of which we are catching the edge right now. It looks very bad and it snuck up on us without much warning!

Today is Sunday and I have spent the entire day in bed doing my research and setting the groundwork for my online program.

It's now 4.03pm and I am about to get up to watch the footy. Unfortunately, Parramatta destroyed my chances of getting a perfect round last night, but at least I gained two of the four points that Adoring Husband surpassed me by last week!

Meditation tomorrow and The Motivator has the day off so I'll be enjoying a public holiday in the shop on my own.

An early mark for me today with the blog.

Nite all.