Time Please?

Where does the time go?

My days off just seem to speed past with little to show for them ... although today wasn't that bad as far as productivity goes.

I did some more study and research in bed this morning and while doing so, I missed a phone call telling me that our IKEA packages had arrived, so Adoring Husband gave them a call and headed into Dundowran to pick it all up.

With a few long interruptions, it took AH almost all day to put this together ...

I helped put one nut/bolt into one table and then announced that I helped AH put it all together!

This one is so much nicer than the crappy old grey aluminium framed, glass topped monstrosity that we had before. It's three tall bar tables bumped up against each other so they can be moved to the pool area separately, if necessary.

It also matches perfectly to the timber panelled walls that AH designed and built in this outdoor area.

While he was putting this together, I was putting this together ...

I love the colours and the delicious cells that came up in the paint.

I made myself presentable and AH dropped me off at the shop so that The Motivator and I could catch up and I could look at the changes that she has made so far.

The space looks so much bigger now! It really changes the flow of energy and feels good, but it also feels like we need more stock to fill up the gaps!

Still more changes to happen yet, but I'm confident that it will be fabulous when we're finished.

TM had already set up the training room in preparation for Saturday's workshop.

We discussed the next step in the changes to the display area and our office area.

AH pulled everything into the shop and closed for us, then pulled apart the clothes hanger to take home and loaded the car with some of my belongings that are no longer required in the shop.

It's all happening in The Happy Abode.

Tomorrow is a work day for me and tomorrow evening, TM and I are attending an Art Class in The Bay with Shiny Happy Art.

So I'm off to get some sleep.

Nite all.

Middle Day

I was inspired to begin creating my online health challenge today, which I hope will also be a weekly workshop in our training room.

I watched a video on how to move forward with my ideas, took lots of notes, made lists, ran out of paper, worked out some logistics and some content and then sought some advice on which platform to create the challenge.

Who knew that there were so many choices for designing and creating online courses and challenges?  The costs involved also varying on many different levels.

I have some research to do and some decisions to make, but I HAVE made a start.

Adoring Husband drove into The Bay while I was busy and then phoned to say that the plumber was coming today to fix the new toilet that came loose.

Luckily he didn't arrive until after AH returned home, but I took all my electronic devices and paperwork to the pool area with the psychotic dogs so they wouldn't go ... psychotic ... when the plumber turned up.

I waded knee deep into the icy waters of the pool. Too cold to go any further than that, but it certainly got the blood circulating!

At 4.30pm it was time to come inside because the midgies were on the bite.

AH and I watched a movie and he had brought a cooked roast pork home from Woollies. I have to say that it was delicious! Very tender and full of flavour. We only had salad to serve with it, but it didn't matter.

I am off work tomorrow and The Motivator has already started rearranging the shop to make room for our new stock, so it's all beginning to happen at The Happy Abode.

It's 10pm and I believe my brain needs to rest now.

Nite all.

Energy Plus

There is no logical reason for my lethargy yesterday.

Today was completely different and I had energy to burn.

I did my kinergetic exercises before I got out of bed ... which for the first time in about ten days, I forgot yesterday! Perhaps that's why my energy levels were so low?

I also did a ten minute energy meditation before I rose.

Good thing I did because it was a hectic morning!

I checked the mail while I was ordering my coffee and found two parcel slips. One needed to be "returned to sender" because it was from a company whose order we had cancelled back in February, but they decided to charge our card and send the package anyway.

They received some stern words in an email from me and they apologised promising to refund our money as soon as we returned the goods. How rude!

So I had to use a trolley to take the other big box of stock, which I knew was Go Girl clothing, to our shop and parked it in the training room while I enjoyed morning coffee with the girls. After a while, The Motivator opened the box so that everybody could have a look and try things on.

We sold two tops (or four, if you count the two that The Motivator and I bought!). Almost the entire morning was filled with half a dozen ladies trying on clothes left right and centre and the rear of the shop looked like a tornado had gone through it by the time we finished.

In the middle of all that, another lady arrived for a pre-arranged appointment (which we had obviously forgotten) to show us her home made hats - she is a Milliner - which were very colourful and very well made. So we accepted her offer and took them on consignment.

Then the little fruit and veg man arrived with his esky of goodies. I purchased some Roma tomatoes from him.

The last of the ladies left the shop at 11am.

TM and I hung half of the clothes on one of the new clothes racks and stored the others in our new drawers.

We placed the newly constructed cube cupboard (TM constructed it before I arrived this morning) in position and put together the drawers that went with it.

We screwed together the IKEA hat rails ready for Adoring Husband to attach to the walls some time this week.

Then it was time for me to leave - around 12.30pm - so that AH and I could drive into town to run some errands, including restocking some art supplies for both the shop AND myself.

I was keen to get started on some art when I got home because I wanted to try my first triptych and this is the result ...

I quite like it.

I'm wondering if there will ever be a day that I am absolutely over the moon happy with something that I do. We are our own worst critic but I still have a lot to learn and I reckon it will take a lot of practice before I start producing fabulous art, if ever.

I love doing it so I'll continue to do it until I no longer enjoy it.

Our dinner was leftover meatloaf with sweet potato mash and zucchini. I made a chilli mushroom sauce to go with it.

Tomorrow is my day off and I'm considering whether to attend meditation in the morning or whether to stay in bed and enjoy the coolness of the morning air.

I'll decide in the morning.

Nite all.

Labouring the Day

I have to say that today was hard work!

I opened the shop from 9am - 1pm and it was pretty quiet - unlike Sunday which was, apparently, almost as busy as Easter!

The first two hours today were ok because a steady flow of customers came through the door, but the last two hours were the slowest ever.

I could barely keep my eyes open and I was counting the minutes until I could come home and put my feet up!

Adoring Husband dropped me at work because I was running late and so he returned to pick me up and helped me close the shop ... as he does. We did some grocery shopping and I came home to lay in my recliner chair.

I didn't want to sleep this afternoon because the last time I tried that trick, it was after 1am by the time my body was ready to sleep again.

The Gypsy was booked out today so we didn't get to chat much.

Aside from that, it was a glorious day outside! The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The air was clear and cool.

Adoring Husband was feeling the cold weather this morning. He tells me that it was 13ºc outside but I still had the fan going and had the windows open. I thought the weather was perfect, especially for sleeping.

Now, it's 7am and I'm ready for sleep. It would be terrible to get my second wind!

To BGWLBH who is too far away to celebrate her birthday with properly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY,  I raised a glass of cool filtered water to 'cheers' you today 👼🏻 🕊 💐 🥂

To Grannymus, I hope that you are recovering well from your surgery and are feeling healthier and stronger by the minute.

To Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour, congratulations on successfully preparing my crispy skinned chicken for dinner yesterday.

To my brides in Melbourne, thank you for loving the photos that I finally finished and sent to you in April and thank you for being so patient with me!

To Adoring Husband, thank you for being you.

I am respecting my body and going to bed.

Nite all.
 

An Anxious State

Today is Sunday.

I spent this morning sitting up in bed watching youtube videos to work out what method of paint pouring I wanted to spend my day attempting.

It was 1pm when I finally made my decision, excitedly got up, changed into daggy paint clothes and announced to Adoring Husband as I opened the blinds and slid the windows open ...

"I am going to open all the windows to let fresh air into the room so that I don't suffocate on paint fumes while I create art."

Within five minutes he was outside starting up the whipper snipper.

😳

Chopping up the grass. Raising the dirt and dust.

I slammed the windows shut.

I cursed like a wharfie.

I moved myself to the lounge room feeling resentful that I now had to wait, not just until he finished mowing, but until the dust settled.

So I found a movie and a big packet of crisps and sat down to enjoy some emotional eating for an hour!

I should have spent the entire day there because my resentment obviously remained in my body and there was no love in the art that I created ...

Disappointment.

So I headed to my fifth favourite place in the house ... the kitchen ... and made a meatloaf and a spaghetti bolognese sauce.

Roz's favourite places in the house:

1. The pool area
2. The bedroom
3. The lounge room
4. The art space/dining room
5. The kitchen
6. The family room
7. The toilet
8. The bathrooms
9. Bedroom two
10. Bedroom four
11. The laundry
12. The ironing room/bedroom three

Ok, it's after 10pm and I'm off to bed because tomorrow is Labour Day and I will be opening the shop for four hours.

I promise to focus on happier thoughts tomorrow and not be so petty about such small things. I will act like a grown up instead of like a spoiled child.

Nite all.  

27 Hours Full

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

My alarm woke me at 4.30am on Friday morning.

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

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

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

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

Ugh.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We left the carpark four minutes later than planned.

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

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

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

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

Talk about a close call!

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

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

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

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

😁🤪😍

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Motivator worked today and I returned home with AH. 

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

That 27 hours wore me out!

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

Nite all.  

A Good Day at the Office

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

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

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

It's going to be a good day!

We are excited about our seminar.

We are excited about another visit to IKEA.

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

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

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

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

Have a happy Friday.

Nite all.

Art for Art's Sake

Adoring Husband drove into The Bay this morning.

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

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

I decided to get arty farty.

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

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

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

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

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

Nite all.

Quick Hello

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

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

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

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

He and his wife were lovely people.

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

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

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

Enough of this frivolity.

Nite all.

Crazy? Maybe.

I had a fabulous day today!

I wish every day was so good!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Nite all.

Done and Dusted

Adoring Husband and I started very early this morning.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We set out all the plastic wine glasses and tumblers.

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

We baked cupcakes and iced them.

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

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

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

We made a jug of margarita mix.

We made a jug of alcohol free punch.

We filled a bowl with chips.

We cleaned the bathroom.

We vacuumed the floors.

We did two loads of washing.

We mowed a small section of front yard.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We didn't have any dinner.

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

Nite all.

Hello There

Well, here I am after a dreadful Friday afternoon and evening.

For some strange reason, my back began to feel uncomfortable around lunch time on Friday and by 2pm the pain became more intense.

I couldn't find a comfortable position to sit or stand so I walked around, did some stretching in all kinds of directions to no avail.

By the time Adoring Husband came to help me close the shop, the pain was incredibly uncomfortable and I was leaning over the counter or over my desk trying to breathe it out, but it didn't help.

The pain was strange and filled the area from between my shoulder blades, down the muscles on either side of my spine right down to my lower back. It felt both internal and external and like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

I had to go to the post office to mail three customer orders and I was barely able to complete the task.

The drive home was painful and I had a few ideas in mind to hopefully ease my situation.

I arrived home and changed into my swimmers. I thought floating in the pool would help. It did help a little. I swam a few laps hoping to stretch it out but it still felt uncomfortable and the cool water temperature felt ok to a point.

Eventually, I had to get out, so I went straight into the bathroom and ran a hot shower. The strong water pressure and heat from the water felt good and I think I stayed under the shower for about ten minutes.

By the time I was dressed, the pain returned and increased significantly.

I lay on the bed and attempted to find a position to ease the pain. It didn't work.

I tried a specific meditation for pain, but two minutes in I was squirming and breathing very heavily.

The pain was unbearable and I stood up and leaned over the bed trying to breathe out the pain. I knelt on the floor trying to breathe out the pain. I lay down with pillows putting pressure on different spots on my back but it did not help.

The thought crossed my mind that I may require an ambulance because I would never get through the night in this kind of pain.

I asked Adoring Husband if he had any pain killers. I don't buy pain killers and it's been more than a year since I took one to ease a headache that I got from caffeine withdrawals.

He didn't have any. It was now 5.45pm and the supermarket closes at 6pm, so I pleaded with him to hurry and get me something for the pain.

He returned with the necessary drugs and I took two immediately.

I didn't have anything for heat. No water bottle and no wheat bag (we don't have a microwave to heat a wheat bag anyway) so AH filled a tall locknlock container with hot water and wrapped it in a tea towel for me. I placed it between my back and a pillow so that there was some pressure there.

By now, I was begging AH to take the pain away.

Of course there was nothing else he could do.

Within about 15 minutes, I could feel the pain ease and then fifteen minutes later again, there was just a mild throb.

I fell asleep almost immediately and woke at 7.30pm pain free.

I asked AH to heat me up some chicken broth, which he did before coming to bed himself.

I watched a couple of hours of TV in bed and fell asleep until just after midnight. I could feel some slight twinges in my back, so I took some more pain killers and went back to sleep until my alarm woke me at 6am. I took a couple of pain killers 'just in case' - not something I would normally do, but that pain really scared me and I didn't want to risk it setting in again.

The pain has not returned today. I haven't taken any more pain killers. I have no idea how or why that pain came or why it has completely disappeared without even any tenderness remaining.

So that's why I didn't do my blog. I was traumatised!

I fell asleep at midnight listening to a long sound healing meditation. I started the day with another healing meditation followed by various kinergetic exercises hoping to send the right energy through my body for strength and healing. I also did a mini physical 'journey' before getting out of bed.

I'm hoping that the power of my mind is strong enough to prevent this happening again.

Ugh.

Feeling good today and looking forward to a large gathering of ladies around the pool for a Nutrimetics party tomorrow afternoon. It should be fabulous!

This means that I require a good night's sleep so that I have the energy to prepare and party!

Nite all.

Begin Again

Adoring Husband dropped me off at The Motivator's house and from there we two girls walked to the hall where the lead group of the Anzac march was just arriving.

We went into the hall and claimed our wreath, putting our very large donation in one of the tins provided and then found a spot close to the muster area ready to lay the wreath when our business name was called.

After a few short speeches and some music from the local choir, the names of about fifty groups, organisations, businesses and memorials were called and we all took our turns to lay our wreaths.

It was all over in less than an hour and even though we were invited inside the hall for morning tea, The Motivator and I chose to leave and we walked to her house to have some 'us' time.

We chatted for a while, practiced some kinergetics and then chatted some more.

Suddenly we realised that it was midday! The Motivator may have realised it before me because I was eating into one of her rare days off and she had some 'her' time to attend to! Still, I enjoyed my morning with her and even though we did talk some business, it was nice to have some friend time together.

AH came to pick me up and we headed to the shop to find something for lunch and get coffee. Unfortunately it was 12.07pm when we walked through the doors, and they had shut off the coffee machine at midday.

Ugh.

I made lunch as soon as we got home and watched 'Twilight' on Foxtel.

I created one small piece of art ...

I really love the colours in this one.

... and then created another failure, which again, I will not share here.

So I sat down and watched some more of the Twilight movies.

I made tuna and potato cakes for dinner, which turned out quite well considering I used almond meal as the crumb.

Right now I'm watching the final movie 'Breaking Dawn Part II' and then I'll have to get some sleep because I actually have to work tomorrow.

We decided to not open the shop on Anzac Day.

I'm looking forward to work!

TGIF and have a good one.

Nite all.

Nine Years Married

Sixteen years together and nine years married.

To celebrate, we lunched at Goody's in Toogoom.

Adoring Husband enjoyed a SurfnTurf and I ordered a GF Salt and Pepper Calamari with sweet potato chips and salad. It was delicious, but too much for me to finish and AH ate half of it for me.

It was disappointing because I so wanted dessert, but my belly just couldn't accept another morsel of food.

We had a couple of errands to run in The Bay after lunch so while we were there, we decided to have a look at some beds and bedroom suites. Our bed is 16 years old now and fading fast. Our biggest decision is whether to purchase another mattress and base, or an entire bedroom suite.

We found a delicious king sized bed that when I lay upon it, felt like I was floating on a cloud.

It was crossed off our list when the price was revealed. $12,000 - yes that is twelve thousand dollars just for a bed. I remember two years ago we looked at a $16,000 bed - one of which Beyonce (apparently) owns. It was half price at the time, but for us, still too expensive for a bed.

We also searched for an outdoor bar setting, but were unsuccessful in our efforts.

I got a few more canvasses and acrylic paints so that I can play some more.

We got back to town early enough to get coffee and to drop in to the shop to see The Motivator.

Earlier in the day, I had attended meditation and had picked up my birthday parcel from the post office. The one that BGWLBH had sent.

Unfortunately, I was running late for my date with AH so I had to wait until the end of the day to open it. You need to understand that our gifts to each other are not just one gift. It's multiple gifts with little tags that explain why the gift was chosen.

It's a journey that takes a good half an hour and needs to be savoured and enjoyed. It can't and shouldn't be rushed.

Here are just a few of my pressies ...

I think my favourite is the golden staff, which is very appropriate for this Queenie!

Anzac Day tomorrow and The Happy Abode is placing a wreath, so I'd best get some sleep so that I can be fresh early in the morning.

Nite all.  

My Birthday

I have no idea where my head was at yesterday when I blogged that my birthday is on Thursday and our anniversary is Friday.

Just to clarify ... my birthday was today, 23rd April and our anniversary is on 24th April.

I think I was watching something weird like 'Hughsey We Have a Problem' and I got totally distracted!

Anyway! Happy Birthday to me!

I lay awake in bed last night from 11pm until almost 3am. I have no idea why I couldn't sleep and I lay with my eyes closed the entire time hoping that I would eventually drift off.

Eventually I did and then I woke to look at the clock at 6am, fell back to sleep until Adoring Husband woke me to accept my glass of celery juice at 7am.

I started the day having coffee with the girls, sitting in my throne which was decorated beautifully by The Motivator and eating the GF birthday cheesecake that she so generously provided and with the added touch of a candle to blow out ...

Even though we were supposed to be at the restaurant for lunch at 11.30am because Aggie had a hair appointment to get to, we didn't leave the shop until 11am and with the holiday traffic, combined with  roadworks, it was 11.45am by the time we arrived at our destination.

Luckily Aggie had already ordered her meal, so she was able to leave on time for her appointment and we got a quality 30 minutes with her before she left.

From there, it was time to shop!

I shopped til I dropped!

I bought myself a very expensive top and four other tops that, combined, didn't cost as much as the first one 😳

It's my birthday and I'll buy if I want to 😁🤣😁 (sung to the tune of "It's My Party")

It was a really great day and I love my girls for making my day so special for me.

For listening to me prattle on about stuff that they'd only hear from my mouth.

For buying my lunch, which by the way, was bloody delicious!

For writing the perfect words in my birthday card.

For giving me honest critique during my modelling stint.

For being so patient while I indulged, trying on numerous items of clothing.

For one of you 'always' being my chauffeur in all our social situations.

For providing laughter, giggles, smiles, hugs and snorts at all the right times and especially today.

So thanks girls for making 59 a memorable one.

I received a funny voicemail from Vegan Chickie and Chicklet with a very tuneful "Happy Birthday" song.

I received texts from special people.

A gift to open on the morning of my birthday, from Bubbles and Knight in Shining Armour.

A phone call from Bubbles.

A phone call from Number One Son.

A phone call from Best Cousin in the World.

A message from Beauty.

A message from Squirt.

A lovely message from Grannymus even though I tried to confuse her with my incorrect days. She's not silly.

So many messages on Facebook.

A beautiful card from AH this afternoon.

A parcel is somewhere between here and Griffith from BGWLBH which I'm excited about.

The Motivator gave me a lovely little gift and I know that she has more for me tomorrow (should have been this afternoon except I returned home late and was too exhausted to move from the house) so my birthday is going to be extended in a couple of ways.

Just the way I like it!

It's 10am and I plan on going to meditation early in the morning so it's time for bed.

Nite all.

An Awakening!

We were expecting the Mirror Art artist at the shop today, but we didn't have an ETA - unfortunately he  was waiting in the carpark when The Motivator arrived to open!

I was still in bed, so a quick phone call from TM and I jumped up and was ready to leave within 20 minutes.

As the artist so diplomatically stated "You look tired"

Thanks mate 🙄😠

Take your mirror art and leave the premises.

He should have looked in one of his mirrors and he would have seen that he wasn't looking too crash hot himself!

Haha. Triggered much?

Mirror Art is not my cup of tea. It's very retro and reminds me of stuff that my Dad had behind his home bar back in the 70s.

This man is very good but also very pricy. The value is there but for our demographic, we can't see it selling very well.

However, we've asked him to provide a book of his work and a number of business cards, which we can show customers and they can decide for themselves.

We didn't stay long and pulled out of the driveway before the artist did.

The Motivator had a crazy busy day in the shop.

Thank you Universe!

While she was run off her feet, I was watching 'You Can Heal Your Life' videos and listening to their podcasts ... as a lead up to their big summit that begins early May. I'm still considering whether to be involved in that one.

I was watching more youtube videos about fluid art.

I was swimming in the pool. I lost count of how many laps I swam, but it was definitely more than yesterday, by at least 4 laps.

I was sharing some quality time with AH under the Bali hut.

I really wanted to do some art, but yesterday's effort put me off a bit, so I have to regroup and go back to basics.

Maybe on Wednesday.

Thursday is my birthday.

It's a baby number.

59

I'll be spending it with some special people.

Friday is AH's and my 9th wedding anniversary. I've never celebrated 9 years married before!

We are also 16 years together and I've never been with one person for that long either!

We must be doing something right.

We must love each other!

Nite all.

Discombobulated

That's how I felt all day long.

My mind couldn't really focus on one thing all day, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, so I stayed in bed until after midday.

Adoring Husband brought me the usual celery juice, chicken broth and coffee. He even cooked dinner tonight! Lamb chops on the barbecue, with mashed potato, mashed pumpkin, zucchini and broccoli. It was perfect.

I had a great idea last night, for a piece of art, and I almost stayed up late to create it, but chose to go to bed instead and save it for today.

Trouble was, I couldn't remember the great idea this morning and even though I searched thoroughly on youtube, nothing triggered my memory.

Finally, in desperation, at 4.30pm, I decided to wing it.

What a disaster!

It was so terrible, I'm not even going to show you a photo. Tomorrow, I'm going to white wash it and start again.

I did go for a swim today and swam two more laps than yesterday, so it was more than 200 metres.

I sat under the Bali hut while it rained, which was really lovely.

Tomorrow, I'm going to be more productive. I'll be visiting the shop because we have an artist bringing in some of his work and we'll decide whether to take some on consignment. I may even take my camera for a ride and see if there is anything to photograph.

I discovered today that Toblerone is GF ... who knew?!

The Motivator has had a big couple of days in the shop, so Easter weekend has been pretty successful  and there is still one more day to go.

I'm ready for bed. I think I'll end my day with some meditation and hopefully I'll have a clearer head tomorrow.

Nite all.