Today was the first time that I felt a touch of disappointment in my art during class.
We painted our clay tile ready for firing and my Tawny Frogmouth just doesn't look the way I envisioned.
I was so disappointed that I didn't even take a progress photo to share here!
We are doing a second tile and I'm creating my house number inside a heart with some swirling curvy lines and patterns around the outside - however - that could change between now and next Saturday! I've brought my drawing home and could quite possibly change it completely between now and then.
On a more positive note, it was nice to have The Motivator join us today and she made a really good start on her clay bust. She obviously has arty, farty, crafty talent in her blood and I think she will fit beautifully with the group.
I returned home and made lunch before retreating to my workspace to get the work done that I deferred from yesterday when I did a Bay run with The Motivator.
I need to contact my domain host to work out what to do next to acquire a SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, which will make my shop safe and secure for you if you want to buy anything.
I didn't even know that I needed one of those until I received an email this week, from an unknown source, telling me that my shop wasn't secure or safe for possible purchasers. So I did some research and still can't figure out why none of the instructional videos that I watched, made any mention of this.
Despite all of that, I do need a SSL, so that is my next mission.
One of the girls from Art is having a birthday lunch tomorrow at Arkarra Tea Gardens. There are twelve of us attending and it should be a nice afternoon, but I really need to spend more time on my website.
This is something that I need to work on. My work and life balance. My self discipline is, and always has been, a weakness that I need to work on. That may have to be the next course I complete in the Academy.
My thoughts are that I should set myself daily work hours - although I expect my hours will need to be quite long in the first year, if I'm going to commit to making this a success. Like a marriage, the first year of business is the hardest.
I also noticed that even though my site looks good on my own mobile phone, some of the words in the titles are still overlapping on other people's phones. That's annoying too! I need to figure that out and fix it.
Anyway, I'm certain that you don't want to know the ins and outs of my website woes, so I'll sign off and head to bed for an early night. Adoring Husband took a while to turn off his alarm this morning and it startled me into a wakefulness that took me a while to recover from. I hate that.
I will use my essential oils to assist in a solid sleep tonight.
Nite all.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Friday, April 28, 2017
Food Glorious Food
Against my better judgement, I chose to spend the day in The Bay with The Motivator.
It was a foodie's dream.
We started at the Asian grocery store where I stocked up on fish sauce, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, coconut vinegar, coconut milk, tapioca and other assorted bits and pieces.
We then swooped on Go Natural and filled the shopping basket with hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, blanched almond flour, coconut aminos, some fresh pestos, raw cacao powder and lots of fresh fruit and veg.
The new Aldi store was next in line and what a pleasant shopping experience that was! So clean and fresh and so few shoppers! It was quiet and there was lots of space and some amazing products to choose from, like grass fed meats, fresh fruit and veg, maple syrup at a very reasonable price, more coconut milk, organic raw cacao powder at half the price of the one I got at Go Natural and lots of other lovely deliciousness.
The staff member at the checkout was very friendly, polite and helpful too.
We decided, before heading home, to go to Kauangan Bakery where a news story last night described the gluten free products that they bake every week. Unfortunately, they only had two GF products in the store because they bake on Wednesday and had sold out quickly because of the news story.
I bought a custard tart, which was lovely, and a pear and raspberry loaf - O - M - G!!! I would like to buy a dozen of them and sit down to a massive pig out!
We took a price list of GF items and were advised to phone in an order on Tuesdays to guarantee receipt. Apparently they sell out very quickly! Understandable, if everything tastes as good as that pear and raspberry loaf!
I had a lucky night at the club tonight and it was good to see everyone. Our table had no luck in the raffles and we were home in time to watch the second footy match .. not that it was very successful for me. I have only got 2 out of 3 correct so far this week.
It's moving towards midnight, so I'm off to bed. I've been up since 3am because I stupidly decided to drink a coffee at 7pm last night and the caffeine kicked in at about midnight. I slept restlessly until 3 am when my body decided to be wide awake.
Ugh.
I have art class tomorrow, so I need to rest.
Nite all.
It was a foodie's dream.
We started at the Asian grocery store where I stocked up on fish sauce, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, coconut vinegar, coconut milk, tapioca and other assorted bits and pieces.
We then swooped on Go Natural and filled the shopping basket with hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, blanched almond flour, coconut aminos, some fresh pestos, raw cacao powder and lots of fresh fruit and veg.
The new Aldi store was next in line and what a pleasant shopping experience that was! So clean and fresh and so few shoppers! It was quiet and there was lots of space and some amazing products to choose from, like grass fed meats, fresh fruit and veg, maple syrup at a very reasonable price, more coconut milk, organic raw cacao powder at half the price of the one I got at Go Natural and lots of other lovely deliciousness.
The staff member at the checkout was very friendly, polite and helpful too.
We decided, before heading home, to go to Kauangan Bakery where a news story last night described the gluten free products that they bake every week. Unfortunately, they only had two GF products in the store because they bake on Wednesday and had sold out quickly because of the news story.
I bought a custard tart, which was lovely, and a pear and raspberry loaf - O - M - G!!! I would like to buy a dozen of them and sit down to a massive pig out!
We took a price list of GF items and were advised to phone in an order on Tuesdays to guarantee receipt. Apparently they sell out very quickly! Understandable, if everything tastes as good as that pear and raspberry loaf!
I had a lucky night at the club tonight and it was good to see everyone. Our table had no luck in the raffles and we were home in time to watch the second footy match .. not that it was very successful for me. I have only got 2 out of 3 correct so far this week.
It's moving towards midnight, so I'm off to bed. I've been up since 3am because I stupidly decided to drink a coffee at 7pm last night and the caffeine kicked in at about midnight. I slept restlessly until 3 am when my body decided to be wide awake.
Ugh.
I have art class tomorrow, so I need to rest.
Nite all.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Hit The Wall
I sit here on the couch watching the footy at 8pm and I cannot stop yawning.
I think I've hit the wall and I should go to bed before I get my second wind!
Adoring Husband woke me this morning from a a very deep sleep where I was dreaming - I can't remember now what I was dreaming about and when I went back to sleep, the dream didn't continue .. because I couldn't return to that sound sleep. I hate that.
My first job this morning was to ride to the supermarket to grab a few items for my party today, so I bought a coffee and spent fifteen minutes with the boys at the Seat of Knowledge. It has become a regular car park with three of them now in mobility carts.
I came home and cleared an area of the back bedroom so that I could put all of the clothes, shoes, handbags and jewellery that I'm clearing in there, and still provide enough room for the girls to try them on.
I prepared some food. A couple of cheese platters, a fruit platter and two different flavours of marinated chicken wings.
Adoring Husband returned home in a loan car after he had dropped our car in at The Bay for repairs, so he cleaned the floor and the loo for me while I made up a couple of jugs of Margaritas and set out the tea and coffee area and tidied up the kitchen.
Much was achieved in the morning and I was dressed and ready to greet my guests as they arrived from 1pm onwards.
Maid Marian was the first to arrive and was able to take her pick of the goods available. Even though I had told the girls to come early to look at the clothes before the party, none of the others arrived until right on 2pm which is when the party should have started.
I believe the party started at about 3pm, which was ok because almost everybody knew all about Le Reve anyway. Stephanie didn't have to explain too much and everybody knew what they wanted to order.
This meant that the girls were all in the back room trying on clothes by 4pm, giggling and shrieking and falling over each other and pretending that it was a Boxing Day sale in Myers. They made a good dent in my stash and what remains will be taken to St Vinnies or another charity organisation in the next few days.
On my way to the shops this morning, I came across this very beautiful, but very dead python in the gutter. So sad :(
Well, 8.30pm and I'm heading to bed.
Thanks for listening.
Nite all.
I think I've hit the wall and I should go to bed before I get my second wind!
Adoring Husband woke me this morning from a a very deep sleep where I was dreaming - I can't remember now what I was dreaming about and when I went back to sleep, the dream didn't continue .. because I couldn't return to that sound sleep. I hate that.
My first job this morning was to ride to the supermarket to grab a few items for my party today, so I bought a coffee and spent fifteen minutes with the boys at the Seat of Knowledge. It has become a regular car park with three of them now in mobility carts.
I came home and cleared an area of the back bedroom so that I could put all of the clothes, shoes, handbags and jewellery that I'm clearing in there, and still provide enough room for the girls to try them on.
I prepared some food. A couple of cheese platters, a fruit platter and two different flavours of marinated chicken wings.
Adoring Husband returned home in a loan car after he had dropped our car in at The Bay for repairs, so he cleaned the floor and the loo for me while I made up a couple of jugs of Margaritas and set out the tea and coffee area and tidied up the kitchen.
Much was achieved in the morning and I was dressed and ready to greet my guests as they arrived from 1pm onwards.
Maid Marian was the first to arrive and was able to take her pick of the goods available. Even though I had told the girls to come early to look at the clothes before the party, none of the others arrived until right on 2pm which is when the party should have started.
I believe the party started at about 3pm, which was ok because almost everybody knew all about Le Reve anyway. Stephanie didn't have to explain too much and everybody knew what they wanted to order.
This meant that the girls were all in the back room trying on clothes by 4pm, giggling and shrieking and falling over each other and pretending that it was a Boxing Day sale in Myers. They made a good dent in my stash and what remains will be taken to St Vinnies or another charity organisation in the next few days.
On my way to the shops this morning, I came across this very beautiful, but very dead python in the gutter. So sad :(
Well, 8.30pm and I'm heading to bed.
Thanks for listening.
Nite all.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Romancing it
What a big day!
I listened to an instructional audio book before I left my bed this morning. It was called "Buy Buttons. The Fast-Track Strategy to Make Extra Money and Start a Business in Your Spare Time"
I didn't get much out of it, because it was written by an American and talked more about resources available in USA and UK. He did mention Australia once or twice, but the information wasn't relevant to me.
Don't get me wrong, it provided some interesting information and I did take a couple of notes, so I'll see if I can apply any of it to my business.
Then I had to select an outfit to wear to our lady's luncheon!
I washed and blow dried my hair, made my face presentable and was ready with time to spare before my lift arrived.
We got stuck behind a tree lopping, wood chipping truck that was towing a wood chipper trailer. It did not drive faster than 80kph at any point during the trip to The Bay. The traffic was such that we never had the opportunity to overtake it, so the drive, which usually takes about 35 minutes took us 45 minutes.
It almost caused WWIII in the car while half of us dared the driver to overtake at risky points and the other half of us demanded that she keep us safe and alive!
Anyway, as you can tell, we made it! Safe and alive!
Thirteen of us enjoyed delicious meals (Except for one person .. and no it wasn't Reality TV Queen! She didn't attend today) and the range of GF options at AquaVue has improved considerably! I got to select salt and pepper calamari, which I've never been able to order before and it was very nice!
This will, once again, become my favourite place to eat in The Bay.
Before we left The Bay, we stopped at Dr Dan's so that I could stock up on my Margarita ingredients for the party tomorrow.
We stopped at the Bowls Club for a quick play of the pokies and then drove to Reality TV Queen's house to have goodbye drinks because she is heading off on a 6 week holiday!
The Blonde Bombshell (AKA YipYip) provided delicious South Australian oysters with lemon and caviar. I haven't had oysters for about 15 years because I had what I thought was an allergic reaction. It was around the same time that I developed allergies to sea perch and sea scallops, so I assumed that the allergy extended to oysters!
I listened to an instructional audio book before I left my bed this morning. It was called "Buy Buttons. The Fast-Track Strategy to Make Extra Money and Start a Business in Your Spare Time"
I didn't get much out of it, because it was written by an American and talked more about resources available in USA and UK. He did mention Australia once or twice, but the information wasn't relevant to me.
Don't get me wrong, it provided some interesting information and I did take a couple of notes, so I'll see if I can apply any of it to my business.
Then I had to select an outfit to wear to our lady's luncheon!
I washed and blow dried my hair, made my face presentable and was ready with time to spare before my lift arrived.
We got stuck behind a tree lopping, wood chipping truck that was towing a wood chipper trailer. It did not drive faster than 80kph at any point during the trip to The Bay. The traffic was such that we never had the opportunity to overtake it, so the drive, which usually takes about 35 minutes took us 45 minutes.
It almost caused WWIII in the car while half of us dared the driver to overtake at risky points and the other half of us demanded that she keep us safe and alive!
Anyway, as you can tell, we made it! Safe and alive!
Thirteen of us enjoyed delicious meals (Except for one person .. and no it wasn't Reality TV Queen! She didn't attend today) and the range of GF options at AquaVue has improved considerably! I got to select salt and pepper calamari, which I've never been able to order before and it was very nice!
This will, once again, become my favourite place to eat in The Bay.
Before we left The Bay, we stopped at Dr Dan's so that I could stock up on my Margarita ingredients for the party tomorrow.
We stopped at the Bowls Club for a quick play of the pokies and then drove to Reality TV Queen's house to have goodbye drinks because she is heading off on a 6 week holiday!
The Blonde Bombshell (AKA YipYip) provided delicious South Australian oysters with lemon and caviar. I haven't had oysters for about 15 years because I had what I thought was an allergic reaction. It was around the same time that I developed allergies to sea perch and sea scallops, so I assumed that the allergy extended to oysters!
Well, I'm happy to say that six hours later, there has been no reaction!! I can eat oysters again!!
*happy dance*
The Facebook page for my website is still doing very nicely, but I won't be able to do much with it tomorrow, with a big day ahead of me. I'm hosting a La Reve party and the ladies will be coming early to go through a huge stack of clothes, shoes, handbags and jewellery that I'm getting rid of.
I have to prepare Margaritas and some nibblies too.
So I'd best get some sleep. I think I'll get to bed before midnight for a change!
Nite all.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Cool Bananas
I'm pretty happy that after less then 48 hours, I had more than 100 people 'like' and 'follow' the Romance Your Life Facebook page!
How exciting!
So I celebrated by announcing a competition where somebody can win a 2017 My Shining Year Workbook and Diary Planner.
I'll announce a winner on 9th May.
If you have a Facebook account and you're interested in entering the competition, go here to find out the details.
This has contributed to me having a really good day, which all started with the usual Tuesday coffee morning with the girls. There were only four of us and The Blonde Bombshell (AKA YipYip) talked a LOT. Even though I teased her incessantly, coffee mornings really have not been the same without her and we've missed her while she has been travelling. Don't tell her I said that though :)
It was 11am by the time I returned home and I prepared an early lunch and headed off to my workspace.
I was trying to figure out how to adjust my website so that it could be viewed on a mobile phone without the words in the headings overlapping each other. I KNEW that I KNEW how to do it, but my memory failed me.
I searched Youtube and couldn't find any familiar information and my frustration was welling, when I received a phone call from my friend 'Woman of Many Talents' asking me to go visit and help her make a decision about the colour of a kitchen tile.
So I took the opportunity to rest my brain and went for a trike ride to visit her. I was halfway to her house when I had an epiphany!!! I remembered everything!! I knew what I had to do to fix the site!
I had a lovely time catching up with WOMT and we chose the perfect tile for her kitchen.
I came home and fixed 95% of the site, but there is still part of it to which the rules that I remembered do not apply, so I still have to figure that part out yet.
Late this afternoon my FB page reached 100 likes and I worked on the competition details.
So, my day has been more than satisfactory and I'm looking forward to the lady's luncheon tomorrow!
Time for bed.
Nite all.
How exciting!
So I celebrated by announcing a competition where somebody can win a 2017 My Shining Year Workbook and Diary Planner.
I'll announce a winner on 9th May.
If you have a Facebook account and you're interested in entering the competition, go here to find out the details.
This has contributed to me having a really good day, which all started with the usual Tuesday coffee morning with the girls. There were only four of us and The Blonde Bombshell (AKA YipYip) talked a LOT. Even though I teased her incessantly, coffee mornings really have not been the same without her and we've missed her while she has been travelling. Don't tell her I said that though :)
It was 11am by the time I returned home and I prepared an early lunch and headed off to my workspace.
I was trying to figure out how to adjust my website so that it could be viewed on a mobile phone without the words in the headings overlapping each other. I KNEW that I KNEW how to do it, but my memory failed me.
I searched Youtube and couldn't find any familiar information and my frustration was welling, when I received a phone call from my friend 'Woman of Many Talents' asking me to go visit and help her make a decision about the colour of a kitchen tile.
So I took the opportunity to rest my brain and went for a trike ride to visit her. I was halfway to her house when I had an epiphany!!! I remembered everything!! I knew what I had to do to fix the site!
I had a lovely time catching up with WOMT and we chose the perfect tile for her kitchen.
I came home and fixed 95% of the site, but there is still part of it to which the rules that I remembered do not apply, so I still have to figure that part out yet.
Late this afternoon my FB page reached 100 likes and I worked on the competition details.
So, my day has been more than satisfactory and I'm looking forward to the lady's luncheon tomorrow!
Time for bed.
Nite all.
Seven Years!
Happy anniversary to us! Seven years today and going strong.
We both wished we could do something more romantic and adventurous together today, but without transport, we decided to make it a foodie day and also do romantic things like walk hand in hand along the beach. We like to make our anniversaries special and just be together.
So it all started with breakfast in bed ... and if you know me, I don't eat breakfast haha. I have coffee, which is exactly what Adoring Husband provided for me while I lay back in bed and enjoyed a slow start to the day.
It was nice to sit and watch as people logged into Facebook and saw my post about the new website. The encouraging comments and watching the numbers climb as people joined my Facebook page was quite exciting!
Adoring Husband gave me a lovely card in which he had written beautiful sentiments, as he always does on our special occasions. When I find the card that I bought for him 2 months ago, which I've hidden in a very safe place, I will present it to him hehehe.
I did spend some time in my office this morning.
We prepared a delicious smoked salmon salad with a home made dressing and a big container of fruit slices to take down to the park, where we were married seven years ago. We drank iced water, so no alcoholic toasts were made.
After lunch, on this very dull day, we decided to drive to the beach, kick off our footwear, and walk as far out along the sand as we could. It was low tide and our tide goes out for kilometres ... so far that you can't even see the water!
I attempted to take a panorama photo with my phone camera and just as I mastered it, Adoring Husband decided to be a fool and bounce around in front of me. This is the result!
He appears 'armless' lol
Here is the next attempt ...
We walked until Adoring Husband's legs hurt and then returned to the car. It was a competition to see whether the big black cloud or us would reach the car first!
Very dark and gloomy and threatening, but we won the race.
I had arranged to buy some sand crabs from The Motivator this afternoon to have for our anniversary dinner, so we picked up six sand crabs, which I spent almost an hour removing the meat from and made avocado and crab toast with the leftover salad from lunch. They were still warm, having just been cooked by The Fisher King. They couldn't have been any fresher!
It was a delicious dinner which we enjoyed very much. We've had a lovely day together. Happy Anniversary to us :)
Anyway, I forgot to show you my birthday gifts to myself yesterday! Here are all the gifts that I received - except for my jewellery organiser that Bubbles sent me (I will show you that tomorrow) -
The 'Clean Eating' recipe book and the Bambi and Thumper ornament were my gifts to myself. I've been very spoilt by my friends this year and I'm feeling the love.
This is the card that I gave myself.
I can't even explain the wonderful feeling that enveloped me when I opened the card on my birthday and read it out loud to myself. Who knew that something so simple could bring such warm happiness?
Anyway, it's time to be kind to myself and get to bed! It's way past midnight!
Nite all.
We both wished we could do something more romantic and adventurous together today, but without transport, we decided to make it a foodie day and also do romantic things like walk hand in hand along the beach. We like to make our anniversaries special and just be together.
So it all started with breakfast in bed ... and if you know me, I don't eat breakfast haha. I have coffee, which is exactly what Adoring Husband provided for me while I lay back in bed and enjoyed a slow start to the day.
It was nice to sit and watch as people logged into Facebook and saw my post about the new website. The encouraging comments and watching the numbers climb as people joined my Facebook page was quite exciting!
Adoring Husband gave me a lovely card in which he had written beautiful sentiments, as he always does on our special occasions. When I find the card that I bought for him 2 months ago, which I've hidden in a very safe place, I will present it to him hehehe.
I did spend some time in my office this morning.
We prepared a delicious smoked salmon salad with a home made dressing and a big container of fruit slices to take down to the park, where we were married seven years ago. We drank iced water, so no alcoholic toasts were made.
After lunch, on this very dull day, we decided to drive to the beach, kick off our footwear, and walk as far out along the sand as we could. It was low tide and our tide goes out for kilometres ... so far that you can't even see the water!
I attempted to take a panorama photo with my phone camera and just as I mastered it, Adoring Husband decided to be a fool and bounce around in front of me. This is the result!
He appears 'armless' lol
Here is the next attempt ...
We walked until Adoring Husband's legs hurt and then returned to the car. It was a competition to see whether the big black cloud or us would reach the car first!
Very dark and gloomy and threatening, but we won the race.
I had arranged to buy some sand crabs from The Motivator this afternoon to have for our anniversary dinner, so we picked up six sand crabs, which I spent almost an hour removing the meat from and made avocado and crab toast with the leftover salad from lunch. They were still warm, having just been cooked by The Fisher King. They couldn't have been any fresher!
It was a delicious dinner which we enjoyed very much. We've had a lovely day together. Happy Anniversary to us :)
Anyway, I forgot to show you my birthday gifts to myself yesterday! Here are all the gifts that I received - except for my jewellery organiser that Bubbles sent me (I will show you that tomorrow) -
The 'Clean Eating' recipe book and the Bambi and Thumper ornament were my gifts to myself. I've been very spoilt by my friends this year and I'm feeling the love.
This is the card that I gave myself.
I can't even explain the wonderful feeling that enveloped me when I opened the card on my birthday and read it out loud to myself. Who knew that something so simple could bring such warm happiness?
Anyway, it's time to be kind to myself and get to bed! It's way past midnight!
Nite all.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Drum Roll Please!!!!!!!!!
The psychotic dogs woke me up this morning at 4.10am for a toilet break.
I couldn't get back to sleep, so I made my way to the other end of the house where my website awaited further construction.
I discovered that sometimes it takes me a long time to use common sense, but it dawned on me where I needed to go to get the information that would fix my glitches. What an epiphany!!
This sent the adrenalin pumping through my veins and I was so excited about the possibility of completing the task today, that I cancelled all of my birthday plans, sent Adoring Husband off to SES duties and planted myself firmly in my desk chair, pyjamas and all, for eleven hours of solid website work.
I received a phone call around lunch time from The Speckled Hen inviting me for birthday drinks at the Bowls Club with a couple of other girls. She gave me the time of 3.30pm and I figured that would take me to eleven hours of solid work and I should definitely have a break by then!
At 3.10pm, I reluctantly changed out of my pyjamas (gosh I can't even remember the last time I stayed in my pyjamas all day. In fact, I don't think I ever have!) into presentable attire for the club and the girls picked me up right on 3.30pm.
Two vodka and tonics later and after lots of laughing and nonsense, they dropped me home at 5pm. They were heading off to one of their houses for more drinks, but I wanted to get dinner done and return to my website.
So it took another three hours, and there are still a couple of problems to sort out. It's by no means perfect, BUT, it's presentable enough to show the world and I will iron out the problems as I go, because IF NOT NOW, WHEN?????
SO!
DRUM ROLL PLEASE!
I present to you Romance Your Life with Roz
Let the games begin!
Nite all.
I couldn't get back to sleep, so I made my way to the other end of the house where my website awaited further construction.
I discovered that sometimes it takes me a long time to use common sense, but it dawned on me where I needed to go to get the information that would fix my glitches. What an epiphany!!
This sent the adrenalin pumping through my veins and I was so excited about the possibility of completing the task today, that I cancelled all of my birthday plans, sent Adoring Husband off to SES duties and planted myself firmly in my desk chair, pyjamas and all, for eleven hours of solid website work.
I received a phone call around lunch time from The Speckled Hen inviting me for birthday drinks at the Bowls Club with a couple of other girls. She gave me the time of 3.30pm and I figured that would take me to eleven hours of solid work and I should definitely have a break by then!
At 3.10pm, I reluctantly changed out of my pyjamas (gosh I can't even remember the last time I stayed in my pyjamas all day. In fact, I don't think I ever have!) into presentable attire for the club and the girls picked me up right on 3.30pm.
Two vodka and tonics later and after lots of laughing and nonsense, they dropped me home at 5pm. They were heading off to one of their houses for more drinks, but I wanted to get dinner done and return to my website.
So it took another three hours, and there are still a couple of problems to sort out. It's by no means perfect, BUT, it's presentable enough to show the world and I will iron out the problems as I go, because IF NOT NOW, WHEN?????
SO!
DRUM ROLL PLEASE!
I present to you Romance Your Life with Roz
Let the games begin!
Nite all.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
I've got nothing :(
I know ...
It's still coming!
I'm working on it!
It's driving me bonkers!
I don't know how long it's going to take!
I'm doing my best!
I'm frustrated as hell!
WooCommerce needs to lift it's game!
Happy birthday to me!
Take a deep breath .. in .. out.
I'm going to bed early so that I can get an early start tomorrow.
If I can get the minimum work required done, just so that I can launch my site on my birthday, I will be very happy.
That would be the best birthday gift ever.
Wish me luck!
Watch this space!
Nite all.
It's still coming!
I'm working on it!
It's driving me bonkers!
I don't know how long it's going to take!
I'm doing my best!
I'm frustrated as hell!
WooCommerce needs to lift it's game!
Happy birthday to me!
Take a deep breath .. in .. out.
I'm going to bed early so that I can get an early start tomorrow.
If I can get the minimum work required done, just so that I can launch my site on my birthday, I will be very happy.
That would be the best birthday gift ever.
Wish me luck!
Watch this space!
Nite all.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Still Working on it.
Fingers crossed, by tomorrow evening, all things going well, my website will be launched.
I'm so sick of typing those words ... surely they will come true soon!
Our car is still not repaired, so we have no transport at the moment .. we can only drive around our little town because the car randomly decides that it can't go faster than 40kph.
It's my birthday on Sunday and our 7th wedding anniversary on Monday, but because of our transport issues, we haven't been able to get gifts for each other, which is fine with me.
Adoring Husband got into The Bay today via other means and bought me two bouquets of flowers. Beautiful colourful Gerberas for my birthday and gorgeous red roses for our anniversary ...
What a lovely surprise that was!
And these are the gifts that I bought myself! One, I asked to be gift wrapped when I ordered it online and the other I wrapped myself. I also wrote a motivational note to myself in a birthday card, which I'll share here on Sunday!
Now I need to sleep.
Nite all.
I'm so sick of typing those words ... surely they will come true soon!
Our car is still not repaired, so we have no transport at the moment .. we can only drive around our little town because the car randomly decides that it can't go faster than 40kph.
It's my birthday on Sunday and our 7th wedding anniversary on Monday, but because of our transport issues, we haven't been able to get gifts for each other, which is fine with me.
Adoring Husband got into The Bay today via other means and bought me two bouquets of flowers. Beautiful colourful Gerberas for my birthday and gorgeous red roses for our anniversary ...
What a lovely surprise that was!
And these are the gifts that I bought myself! One, I asked to be gift wrapped when I ordered it online and the other I wrapped myself. I also wrote a motivational note to myself in a birthday card, which I'll share here on Sunday!
Now I need to sleep.
Nite all.
A Slight Disappointment
I strongly doubt that tomorrow will be my launch day for the website.
Maybe Saturday, if I'm very conscientious and very lucky.
This will probably sound like double dutch to some of you, but I updated the WooCommerce plugin and there was a problem with the update - which I discovered was a 'thing' when I went Google searching for a fix.
This meant that I lost some of the photos and all of the accompanying information from the shop. It took me more than two hours to rebuild it all and then one of the photos wouldn't load the right size. I still haven't figured that one out.
My other problem is that something has appeared on one of the pages and I can't figure out how to get rid of it.
This problem prevented me from building my jewellery shop today, so that will be my mission tomorrow, along with creating the Art and Craft page.
It's going to take longer than a day and I'm feeling the pressure!
On the bright side, the order that I mentioned in yesterday's post, finally arrived today! Wahoo!
The dining table is now covered in photography gear, jewellery, boxes, the gorgeous packaging that came in the order and some of Adoring Husband's 'stuff'. That too will be a job and a half to clear eventually. I still have quite a few photographs to take yet - but they are not urgent right now.
For now, I'm going to get my 'sweet sleep' essential oil and attempt to have a restful night. My brain wouldn't shut down last night and it took forever to fall asleep ... only to be disturbed at 1.30am by the dogs for a toilet break ... then it took forever to fall back to sleep!
I have to fit a LOT into tomorrow and my brain will need to be on the ball.
So ...
Nite all.
Maybe Saturday, if I'm very conscientious and very lucky.
This will probably sound like double dutch to some of you, but I updated the WooCommerce plugin and there was a problem with the update - which I discovered was a 'thing' when I went Google searching for a fix.
This meant that I lost some of the photos and all of the accompanying information from the shop. It took me more than two hours to rebuild it all and then one of the photos wouldn't load the right size. I still haven't figured that one out.
My other problem is that something has appeared on one of the pages and I can't figure out how to get rid of it.
This problem prevented me from building my jewellery shop today, so that will be my mission tomorrow, along with creating the Art and Craft page.
It's going to take longer than a day and I'm feeling the pressure!
On the bright side, the order that I mentioned in yesterday's post, finally arrived today! Wahoo!
The dining table is now covered in photography gear, jewellery, boxes, the gorgeous packaging that came in the order and some of Adoring Husband's 'stuff'. That too will be a job and a half to clear eventually. I still have quite a few photographs to take yet - but they are not urgent right now.
For now, I'm going to get my 'sweet sleep' essential oil and attempt to have a restful night. My brain wouldn't shut down last night and it took forever to fall asleep ... only to be disturbed at 1.30am by the dogs for a toilet break ... then it took forever to fall back to sleep!
I have to fit a LOT into tomorrow and my brain will need to be on the ball.
So ...
Nite all.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Woopsie!
My day didn't quite go according to plan.
I had one Le Reve delivery to make. Luckily, I didn't accept Chef Pat's invitation to 'come in' otherwise I'd have been in even more strife with my day!
From there, I stopped at the pub to pick up two big bags of chillies from Tweedle Dee. Luckily, Tweedle Dee was working, so that visit was much shorter than it would have been otherwise!
My next stop was at The Motivator's house to say goodbye to Slammin' Sam who was returning to Sydney today. Luckily, they only had one hour to spare, or my visit might have stretched even further beyond my limits!
The Motivator gave me some crab to bring home - yum.
The Post Office was fourth on my list. I checked the mail and grabbed a couple of grocery items.
I sent a text to the Blonde Bombshell to see if she was back from her holiday, so that I could deliver her some chillies. She returned my text immediately to say that she was home, so she was my next stop.
After much catching up, I bid my farewell, explaining that my website was calling and that I had lost enough time for the day.
By the time I arrived home, it was almost lunch time! Good grief!
I shelled and ate three delicious sand crabs for lunch while Adoring Husband made his own lunch with leftovers from yesterday.
So my work day got a very late start and I did not complete even half of my 'to do' list for the day. This means that I'll have to work double time tomorrow!
Ugh.
I may even get a couple of hours in tonight before bed - hence my early post here.
I've been expecting delivery of an order from the Reed Gift Fair since last Wednesday and still there is no sign of it, so I'll have to phone the company tomorrow and ask them to follow it up. That's annoying.
Another company have contacted me to say that they can't complete an order of which I've already received three quarters. So at least I'll get a refund soon.
I guess this will be a learning process - which companies will be reliable and worthy of receiving my business? It seems that my learning curve is much bigger than I at first imagined haha. That will keep me on my toes!
Anyway, I'm off to get some more work done.
Nite all.
I had one Le Reve delivery to make. Luckily, I didn't accept Chef Pat's invitation to 'come in' otherwise I'd have been in even more strife with my day!
From there, I stopped at the pub to pick up two big bags of chillies from Tweedle Dee. Luckily, Tweedle Dee was working, so that visit was much shorter than it would have been otherwise!
My next stop was at The Motivator's house to say goodbye to Slammin' Sam who was returning to Sydney today. Luckily, they only had one hour to spare, or my visit might have stretched even further beyond my limits!
The Motivator gave me some crab to bring home - yum.
The Post Office was fourth on my list. I checked the mail and grabbed a couple of grocery items.
I sent a text to the Blonde Bombshell to see if she was back from her holiday, so that I could deliver her some chillies. She returned my text immediately to say that she was home, so she was my next stop.
After much catching up, I bid my farewell, explaining that my website was calling and that I had lost enough time for the day.
By the time I arrived home, it was almost lunch time! Good grief!
I shelled and ate three delicious sand crabs for lunch while Adoring Husband made his own lunch with leftovers from yesterday.
So my work day got a very late start and I did not complete even half of my 'to do' list for the day. This means that I'll have to work double time tomorrow!
Ugh.
I may even get a couple of hours in tonight before bed - hence my early post here.
I've been expecting delivery of an order from the Reed Gift Fair since last Wednesday and still there is no sign of it, so I'll have to phone the company tomorrow and ask them to follow it up. That's annoying.
Another company have contacted me to say that they can't complete an order of which I've already received three quarters. So at least I'll get a refund soon.
I guess this will be a learning process - which companies will be reliable and worthy of receiving my business? It seems that my learning curve is much bigger than I at first imagined haha. That will keep me on my toes!
Anyway, I'm off to get some more work done.
Nite all.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Still Working
Coffee with the girls was fabulous! There were only two missing and I didn't get home until 11am (which is like the midnight of the daylight hours!! haha).
When I arrived home, I prepared an early lunch so that I could lock myself away in my workspace for the rest of the day.
I did some repair work on my original site shop, made a list of all the little things that I have to clear on the site and began working on them, and watched some instructional Youtube videos on some other stuff that I need to do.
Tomorrow, I'll add the jewellery shop and if I'm quick enough, possibly the journal shop as well, That will give me Thursday to work on the final Art and Craft page.
That will be enough to launch the site and I can add everything else later.
It's all going according to plan so far.
Meanwhile, I need to get to bed before midnight, so this is short and sweet.
Nite all.
When I arrived home, I prepared an early lunch so that I could lock myself away in my workspace for the rest of the day.
I did some repair work on my original site shop, made a list of all the little things that I have to clear on the site and began working on them, and watched some instructional Youtube videos on some other stuff that I need to do.
Tomorrow, I'll add the jewellery shop and if I'm quick enough, possibly the journal shop as well, That will give me Thursday to work on the final Art and Craft page.
That will be enough to launch the site and I can add everything else later.
It's all going according to plan so far.
Meanwhile, I need to get to bed before midnight, so this is short and sweet.
Nite all.
Monday, April 17, 2017
Later Aligator!
It's the end of the Queensland school holidays! Yay!
Sadly, there is still a week of NSW school holidays, so I guess we will have a few tourists in town for another week.
The only time that I left the house over Easter, was to attend my Art class (out of town) on Saturday morning, so I haven't seen the crowds or dealt with the mayhem.
I'm led to believe that it was the biggest fishing classic in the 25 yr history of the event. The wind carried the announcements and the noise from the Lion's Park to our back yard on Saturday and Sunday, so I couldn't avoid the event completely.
I look forward to getting out and about tomorrow and meeting the girls for coffee.
I got quite a lot done today.
I cross matched my stock with each invoice to check the prices and then I started my inventory .. at least on paper.
I took photos of 90 pieces of jewellery, but there is more yet to do. Here are a few more.
It's a long and tedious task. Not so much the photography, but the editing to make them look presentable.
Still lots to do, but I think I have enough photos done, to at least open the jewellery shop by Friday.
It's time for me to sleep so that I can be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow for another day of work. I think I'll have a visitor to help me tomorrow! Fingers crossed.
Nite all.
Sadly, there is still a week of NSW school holidays, so I guess we will have a few tourists in town for another week.
The only time that I left the house over Easter, was to attend my Art class (out of town) on Saturday morning, so I haven't seen the crowds or dealt with the mayhem.
I'm led to believe that it was the biggest fishing classic in the 25 yr history of the event. The wind carried the announcements and the noise from the Lion's Park to our back yard on Saturday and Sunday, so I couldn't avoid the event completely.
I look forward to getting out and about tomorrow and meeting the girls for coffee.
I got quite a lot done today.
I cross matched my stock with each invoice to check the prices and then I started my inventory .. at least on paper.
I took photos of 90 pieces of jewellery, but there is more yet to do. Here are a few more.
It's a long and tedious task. Not so much the photography, but the editing to make them look presentable.
Still lots to do, but I think I have enough photos done, to at least open the jewellery shop by Friday.
It's time for me to sleep so that I can be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow for another day of work. I think I'll have a visitor to help me tomorrow! Fingers crossed.
Nite all.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Exceeded Expectations
I'm pretty happy with my progress today!
Adoring Husband only needed one 'Do Not Disturb' warning and he was kind enough to make my lunch and serve it to me at my desk.
Today, I designed my 'sign up' form, the confirmation email and the welcome email with the link to my ebook. It is what I struggled with at the beginning of this year, but Youtube came to my rescue and the process was so easy!
Adoring Husband was smarter than me with the Lightbox and it is all set up on the dining table ready for me to perform in the photography marathon tomorrow - the one of my own making - to photograph all of my stock.
Here are a couple of bracelets that I'll be selling ...
I need to take better photographs of them for the site.
Following that, I need to design and create the extra 3 shops for the site, which shouldn't take long.
All things going according to plan, the deadline of next Friday is looking pretty good at this stage! I can feel the butterflies!
Pretty excited about our footy tips this week.
Both Adoring Husband and I have all of our tips correct so far this week. There is one more game tomorrow and if we've tipped that one correctly, we will both be on top of the footy tipping ladder!
On that note, I'm off to bed for an early night. Another big work day tomorrow.
Nite all.
Adoring Husband only needed one 'Do Not Disturb' warning and he was kind enough to make my lunch and serve it to me at my desk.
Today, I designed my 'sign up' form, the confirmation email and the welcome email with the link to my ebook. It is what I struggled with at the beginning of this year, but Youtube came to my rescue and the process was so easy!
Adoring Husband was smarter than me with the Lightbox and it is all set up on the dining table ready for me to perform in the photography marathon tomorrow - the one of my own making - to photograph all of my stock.
Here are a couple of bracelets that I'll be selling ...
I need to take better photographs of them for the site.
Following that, I need to design and create the extra 3 shops for the site, which shouldn't take long.
All things going according to plan, the deadline of next Friday is looking pretty good at this stage! I can feel the butterflies!
Pretty excited about our footy tips this week.
Both Adoring Husband and I have all of our tips correct so far this week. There is one more game tomorrow and if we've tipped that one correctly, we will both be on top of the footy tipping ladder!
On that note, I'm off to bed for an early night. Another big work day tomorrow.
Nite all.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Bloody Tourists
It's Easter weekend.
Over Easter, our town holds it's annual Easter Fishing Classic, which is a weekend long fishing competition.
The population more than doubles over the Easter weekend. Good Friday is the sign up day and then each day after that has live weigh-ins and dead weigh-ins, and there are prizes for all children's age groups and also for adults. The prizes cover different breeds of fish and crab.
Each day from noon, there are rolling raffles and prizes include assorted fishing gear including rods and reels and eskies. The big prize for the weekend is a boat, but you have to be in attendance to win it.
This fishing competition has been running for over 25 years and brings a lot of money to the town and our local charities.
It is always a very successful weekend and I can't even tell you how much I dislike it!
My town fills with loud, disrespectful, inconsiderate, arrogant out-of-towners. They litter our streets, riverbanks and waterways. They take over our club and pub. They fill the seating at our local coffee shops. They create massive queues in our supermarket and shops. Their cars fill every car space in town. They provoke ramp rage at the boat ramps. They break the rules on the water. They don't monitor their kids who commit crimes late at night. They speed through our streets.
Unfortunately, they also provide enough income for our local businesses to help them stay afloat for the rest of the year, so it doesn't matter how much I bitch about them, I am constantly reminded that the town needs these tourists.
Ugh!
I do my utmost to remain indoors over Easter and avoid the ugly crowds.
I was asked to do the photography for the weekend, but respectfully declined. It's a 'love' job and takes many many hours of precious time. It's also a thankless job. I did it for the first two years that we were in town, so I know what I'm missing and am grateful for the opportunity to say 'NO'.
Anyway ... today was ART day!!
I stained my clay bust ...
... and our work will be fired in a kiln in The Bay some time over the next couple of weeks.
Our next project is a clay tile.
I selected this photo ...
I had to draw it onto a leather tile and then use a leather cutter to slice pieces out of the picture. This is the first stage.
Later, we will cover the tile with soft clay so that the clay fills the holes that we've cut out (like a mould), then we wait for the clay to dry, paint it and then fire it in the kiln. Interesting concept hey?
I just love my art class. The other girls are great value. It's very informal and relaxed and we have some good laughs at each other's expense. All very different personalities when it comes to creativity, and we each take turns to bring lunch every Saturday which is usually sandwiches with GF bread. I love that they take me into consideration and always provide something that I can eat.
After I returned home, I spent 90 minutes taking photos of my jewellery. I did it outside where the light was good, but my silver jewellery seems to have photographed more gold than silver! This is bloody annoying and means that I have to start all over again. They are also not very sharp.
Adoring Husband is going to set up my Lightbox for me tomorrow and we'll see if that makes a difference to the colour. I'm not a fan of the Lightbox, but it might be my only option. I did attempt to set it up myself a couple of months ago, but it just didn't seem right. Let's see if AH is cleverer than me ... there's a challenge for him!!
Here are some of the jewellery pics. A few of these pieces are quite large and the chains aren't included.
So many more to photograph yet! That's my priority tomorrow. Two full days to power through some work!! Wahoo!!
Enough for now. Time for bed.
Nite all.
Over Easter, our town holds it's annual Easter Fishing Classic, which is a weekend long fishing competition.
The population more than doubles over the Easter weekend. Good Friday is the sign up day and then each day after that has live weigh-ins and dead weigh-ins, and there are prizes for all children's age groups and also for adults. The prizes cover different breeds of fish and crab.
Each day from noon, there are rolling raffles and prizes include assorted fishing gear including rods and reels and eskies. The big prize for the weekend is a boat, but you have to be in attendance to win it.
This fishing competition has been running for over 25 years and brings a lot of money to the town and our local charities.
It is always a very successful weekend and I can't even tell you how much I dislike it!
My town fills with loud, disrespectful, inconsiderate, arrogant out-of-towners. They litter our streets, riverbanks and waterways. They take over our club and pub. They fill the seating at our local coffee shops. They create massive queues in our supermarket and shops. Their cars fill every car space in town. They provoke ramp rage at the boat ramps. They break the rules on the water. They don't monitor their kids who commit crimes late at night. They speed through our streets.
Unfortunately, they also provide enough income for our local businesses to help them stay afloat for the rest of the year, so it doesn't matter how much I bitch about them, I am constantly reminded that the town needs these tourists.
Ugh!
I do my utmost to remain indoors over Easter and avoid the ugly crowds.
I was asked to do the photography for the weekend, but respectfully declined. It's a 'love' job and takes many many hours of precious time. It's also a thankless job. I did it for the first two years that we were in town, so I know what I'm missing and am grateful for the opportunity to say 'NO'.
Anyway ... today was ART day!!
I stained my clay bust ...
... and our work will be fired in a kiln in The Bay some time over the next couple of weeks.
Our next project is a clay tile.
I selected this photo ...
I had to draw it onto a leather tile and then use a leather cutter to slice pieces out of the picture. This is the first stage.
Later, we will cover the tile with soft clay so that the clay fills the holes that we've cut out (like a mould), then we wait for the clay to dry, paint it and then fire it in the kiln. Interesting concept hey?
I just love my art class. The other girls are great value. It's very informal and relaxed and we have some good laughs at each other's expense. All very different personalities when it comes to creativity, and we each take turns to bring lunch every Saturday which is usually sandwiches with GF bread. I love that they take me into consideration and always provide something that I can eat.
After I returned home, I spent 90 minutes taking photos of my jewellery. I did it outside where the light was good, but my silver jewellery seems to have photographed more gold than silver! This is bloody annoying and means that I have to start all over again. They are also not very sharp.
Adoring Husband is going to set up my Lightbox for me tomorrow and we'll see if that makes a difference to the colour. I'm not a fan of the Lightbox, but it might be my only option. I did attempt to set it up myself a couple of months ago, but it just didn't seem right. Let's see if AH is cleverer than me ... there's a challenge for him!!
Here are some of the jewellery pics. A few of these pieces are quite large and the chains aren't included.
So many more to photograph yet! That's my priority tomorrow. Two full days to power through some work!! Wahoo!!
Enough for now. Time for bed.
Nite all.
Friday, April 14, 2017
A Good Friday
Best Cousin in the World and Marco Polo came for lunch today.
I got out of bed at 9am and cleaned the bathroom while Adoring Husband vacuumed and steam cleaned the tiled floor.
I chucked some chicken wings in a baking tray and poured a mixture of Raspberry and Chocolate balsamic vinegar, honey, fish sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper, slices of fresh ginger and one chilli roughly chopped over the top of them. Baked them in the oven at 180C for 45 minutes, turned the oven off and let them sit in the residual heat.
I made up three salads.
A coleslaw with mango mayonnaise.
A rocket pear and salty caramelised walnuts salad. I made a dressing of avocado, chilli coconut mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup.
A salad of baby spinach, lettuce, rocket, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, boiled egg and chopped mint. No dressing for that one.
Adoring Husband cooked some steak on the barbecue.
It was an easy lunch that was prepared (except for the steak) before they even arrived so I was able to sit with everybody and chat until AH cooked the steak and we brought all the remaining food from the fridge to the outside table.
The weather was nice outside today. A sunny day with a cool breeze.
Best Cousin in the World drank a whole bottle of red wine and I drank 3/4 bottle of Oyster Bay SB over four hours.
I drank the wine because BCITW gifted it to me. I spent most of the afternoon after they left in the bathroom suffering the consequences of my actions (and no, I wasn't drunk). At the time, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing some alcoholic beverages with good company, but I guess it takes me a while to learn my lessons. Wine simply doesn't agree with me anymore.
Adoring Husband had SES duties this evening and was gone for about 4 hours. This would have been a perfect opportunity to get some work done on my site, but between my bathroom visits and the football on TV, no work was done by me.
It has been a good Friday.
Tomorrow is my art class, which I'm very much looking forward to, but I'm looking forward, also, to having no commitments so that I can focus on my work on Sunday and Monday.
Seeing that it's only just after 9.30pm and the final game of footy is almost done for the evening, I might just get an early night, in preparation for an early morning.
I just wanted to mention, as a follow on from yesterday's post, my gratitude and appreciation for the support and encouragement that I received from Happy Harry, Lady Lynn and Adoring Husband at the funeral. It was thanks to them, that I found the strength to stand up and read the tribute. Thanks guys xox
Nite all.
I got out of bed at 9am and cleaned the bathroom while Adoring Husband vacuumed and steam cleaned the tiled floor.
I chucked some chicken wings in a baking tray and poured a mixture of Raspberry and Chocolate balsamic vinegar, honey, fish sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper, slices of fresh ginger and one chilli roughly chopped over the top of them. Baked them in the oven at 180C for 45 minutes, turned the oven off and let them sit in the residual heat.
I made up three salads.
A coleslaw with mango mayonnaise.
A rocket pear and salty caramelised walnuts salad. I made a dressing of avocado, chilli coconut mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup.
A salad of baby spinach, lettuce, rocket, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, boiled egg and chopped mint. No dressing for that one.
Adoring Husband cooked some steak on the barbecue.
It was an easy lunch that was prepared (except for the steak) before they even arrived so I was able to sit with everybody and chat until AH cooked the steak and we brought all the remaining food from the fridge to the outside table.
The weather was nice outside today. A sunny day with a cool breeze.
Best Cousin in the World drank a whole bottle of red wine and I drank 3/4 bottle of Oyster Bay SB over four hours.
I drank the wine because BCITW gifted it to me. I spent most of the afternoon after they left in the bathroom suffering the consequences of my actions (and no, I wasn't drunk). At the time, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing some alcoholic beverages with good company, but I guess it takes me a while to learn my lessons. Wine simply doesn't agree with me anymore.
Adoring Husband had SES duties this evening and was gone for about 4 hours. This would have been a perfect opportunity to get some work done on my site, but between my bathroom visits and the football on TV, no work was done by me.
It has been a good Friday.
Tomorrow is my art class, which I'm very much looking forward to, but I'm looking forward, also, to having no commitments so that I can focus on my work on Sunday and Monday.
Seeing that it's only just after 9.30pm and the final game of footy is almost done for the evening, I might just get an early night, in preparation for an early morning.
I just wanted to mention, as a follow on from yesterday's post, my gratitude and appreciation for the support and encouragement that I received from Happy Harry, Lady Lynn and Adoring Husband at the funeral. It was thanks to them, that I found the strength to stand up and read the tribute. Thanks guys xox
Nite all.
The Party is Over
Today we said goodbye to Mum H.
At the service, there were about 100 people in attendance and there were quite a few people out of town and unable to attend.
All the bowlers turned up in their colours and formed a guard of honour as we left the chapel.
The eulogy was lovely and everybody learnt something new about Mum H.
The TV screen at the head of the chapel showed so many photos of her with so many different people, at parties and functions and events. There were photos of her as a young child and wedding photos. A lifetime of photos that made everybody smile.
The music was amazing .. just one song to tug at our heart strings, but the rest were upbeat happy songs that Mum used to love dancing to, and the final song to say goodbye was the old classic "Eagle Rock".
One representative from the Bowls Club was invited to the podium to say a few words on behalf of the bowlers. He spoke well and only faltered at the very end.
In my purse I had a two page written tribute that I had every intention of reading. I practiced at home and I timed myself. It was just two minutes long. I imagined myself standing at the podium, strong and confident and articulating my words clearly and precisely.
As the moment drew closer, I took some slow deep breaths. My stomach and my throat felt tight and I concentrated really hard on relaxing. Happy Harry offered to stand beside me at the podium for moral support.
My biggest concern was getting to the podium and falling apart before the first word was uttered. I am such an emotional blob of jelly in these situations!
When the bowler's tribute was over, the celebrant asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak.
This was the moment.
I stood up and walked directly to the podium. I did it so suddenly that Happy Harry didn't have a chance to support me! I glanced briefly at all of those people sitting in the chapel. All of those people who were there to say goodbye to Mum H. All of those people who loved her and wanted this opportunity to pay their last respects.
I could feel the emotion welling inside me.
I took a deep breath.
I said to myself "You can do this. Just do it!"
I looked at my printed sheet of paper, opened my mouth and through my quivering emotional tight throat, I spoke.
Almost immediately, I felt myself losing it, but I pushed myself to keep going. My voice faltered so many times and I was terrified that I wouldn't make it to the end. I heard Adoring Husband give a little emotional cough. The last line of my tribute almost wasn't uttered ... but I made it.
I made it to the end.
The people were pleased. I received hugs of praise because my words described Mum H so well and everybody could relate. I think a lot of the hugs were sympathetic hugs because I was such a wuss!
I think Mum H would have been pleased. Her family were grateful too.
It was the best way I knew how to say goodbye and I'm glad that I pushed through the overwhelm and the emotion.
Now I am drained and exhausted but unable to wind down. It's almost 1am! Ugh.
Nite all.
At the service, there were about 100 people in attendance and there were quite a few people out of town and unable to attend.
All the bowlers turned up in their colours and formed a guard of honour as we left the chapel.
The eulogy was lovely and everybody learnt something new about Mum H.
The TV screen at the head of the chapel showed so many photos of her with so many different people, at parties and functions and events. There were photos of her as a young child and wedding photos. A lifetime of photos that made everybody smile.
The music was amazing .. just one song to tug at our heart strings, but the rest were upbeat happy songs that Mum used to love dancing to, and the final song to say goodbye was the old classic "Eagle Rock".
One representative from the Bowls Club was invited to the podium to say a few words on behalf of the bowlers. He spoke well and only faltered at the very end.
In my purse I had a two page written tribute that I had every intention of reading. I practiced at home and I timed myself. It was just two minutes long. I imagined myself standing at the podium, strong and confident and articulating my words clearly and precisely.
As the moment drew closer, I took some slow deep breaths. My stomach and my throat felt tight and I concentrated really hard on relaxing. Happy Harry offered to stand beside me at the podium for moral support.
My biggest concern was getting to the podium and falling apart before the first word was uttered. I am such an emotional blob of jelly in these situations!
When the bowler's tribute was over, the celebrant asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak.
This was the moment.
I stood up and walked directly to the podium. I did it so suddenly that Happy Harry didn't have a chance to support me! I glanced briefly at all of those people sitting in the chapel. All of those people who were there to say goodbye to Mum H. All of those people who loved her and wanted this opportunity to pay their last respects.
I could feel the emotion welling inside me.
I took a deep breath.
I said to myself "You can do this. Just do it!"
I looked at my printed sheet of paper, opened my mouth and through my quivering emotional tight throat, I spoke.
Almost immediately, I felt myself losing it, but I pushed myself to keep going. My voice faltered so many times and I was terrified that I wouldn't make it to the end. I heard Adoring Husband give a little emotional cough. The last line of my tribute almost wasn't uttered ... but I made it.
I made it to the end.
The people were pleased. I received hugs of praise because my words described Mum H so well and everybody could relate. I think a lot of the hugs were sympathetic hugs because I was such a wuss!
I think Mum H would have been pleased. Her family were grateful too.
It was the best way I knew how to say goodbye and I'm glad that I pushed through the overwhelm and the emotion.
Now I am drained and exhausted but unable to wind down. It's almost 1am! Ugh.
Nite all.
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Boring Stuff
For the next couple of weeks, this blog is going to be a bit more boring than usual, because I'm spending most of my waking hours at my desk or with my camera.
I attempted to take photos of my stock today, but couldn't quite get the light right, so I gave up and did some research on marketing and copywriting instead. I also got part way through a course from the Academy - which is always inspiring and helpful.
The photos will need to be taken in the early morning light .. which I will try tomorrow.
Adoring Husband was kind enough to make lunch, which gave me extra time to work.
I did a proof read of the work I've done so far on the website, which was interesting, because I hadn't looked at it for more than two months. It looks pretty good!
I've now laid out a time line. It's basically a 'to do' list and each item has a 'do by' date. I'm hoping that will push me a bit harder and make me more accountable.
Every small step takes me closer to my finishing line.
I read that the first 20% of a project is easy and fast and full of enthusiasm. The next 60% is fairly smooth sailing but the final 20% is the toughest to get through. That's where I'm at.
Tomorrow is a wipe out day. Mum H's funeral is at 12pm, followed by the wake at the Bowls Club and drinks at the Pub and finally the raffle night at the Bowls Club. There'll be no work happening tomorrow.
Good Friday will be another wipe out day because Best Cousin in the World will be visiting for lunch and she will pick up her Le Reve order.
Saturday morning is out, due to my art class which hogs my time from 9.30am - 1.30pm.
Saturday afternoon, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be full time 'head down, bum up' working working working.
I am going to make it happen!
I've created a new story for me ...
"I am capable of anything that I put my mind to and I am in control of my own life. I am smart, intuitive, creative, happy, healthy and vibrant. I can create and develop my own business ideas and make my own income that will help us live more than comfortably. I have a wish list that I plan on fulfilling. Negativity is no longer an option and I will fill my life with abundance and joy. My life has purpose and meaning. I AM GOING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!"
... and so it will be.
Nite all.
I attempted to take photos of my stock today, but couldn't quite get the light right, so I gave up and did some research on marketing and copywriting instead. I also got part way through a course from the Academy - which is always inspiring and helpful.
The photos will need to be taken in the early morning light .. which I will try tomorrow.
Adoring Husband was kind enough to make lunch, which gave me extra time to work.
I did a proof read of the work I've done so far on the website, which was interesting, because I hadn't looked at it for more than two months. It looks pretty good!
I've now laid out a time line. It's basically a 'to do' list and each item has a 'do by' date. I'm hoping that will push me a bit harder and make me more accountable.
Every small step takes me closer to my finishing line.
I read that the first 20% of a project is easy and fast and full of enthusiasm. The next 60% is fairly smooth sailing but the final 20% is the toughest to get through. That's where I'm at.
Tomorrow is a wipe out day. Mum H's funeral is at 12pm, followed by the wake at the Bowls Club and drinks at the Pub and finally the raffle night at the Bowls Club. There'll be no work happening tomorrow.
Good Friday will be another wipe out day because Best Cousin in the World will be visiting for lunch and she will pick up her Le Reve order.
Saturday morning is out, due to my art class which hogs my time from 9.30am - 1.30pm.
Saturday afternoon, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be full time 'head down, bum up' working working working.
I am going to make it happen!
I've created a new story for me ...
"I am capable of anything that I put my mind to and I am in control of my own life. I am smart, intuitive, creative, happy, healthy and vibrant. I can create and develop my own business ideas and make my own income that will help us live more than comfortably. I have a wish list that I plan on fulfilling. Negativity is no longer an option and I will fill my life with abundance and joy. My life has purpose and meaning. I AM GOING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!"
... and so it will be.
Nite all.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Moving Right Along
Coffee with the girls. Always a hoot! Even if they don't care about my health concerns!! (You know who you are!).
A stop at The Motivator's house to see her and her visitor, Queen of Crosswords. I spent a couple of very pleasant hours with the girls, assisting with a crossword completion, looking at and buying beautiful handbags and chatting about stuff.
I came home to make some lunch for myself because Adoring Husband was still in town attempting to have our car repaired. He was unsuccessful ... or I should say the car yard was unsuccessful.
The rest of the day was spent at my desk where I achieved little, but it was 'quality' little. I feel ok about my progress and since my sister, Squirt, won't be visiting as planned, I have the whole Easter weekend to work on my site.
Fingers crossed!
Another delivery from the gift fair arrived today! Will they never end? Hopefully, there will be one more before Easter.
And now it's time for bed.
Nite all.
A stop at The Motivator's house to see her and her visitor, Queen of Crosswords. I spent a couple of very pleasant hours with the girls, assisting with a crossword completion, looking at and buying beautiful handbags and chatting about stuff.
I came home to make some lunch for myself because Adoring Husband was still in town attempting to have our car repaired. He was unsuccessful ... or I should say the car yard was unsuccessful.
The rest of the day was spent at my desk where I achieved little, but it was 'quality' little. I feel ok about my progress and since my sister, Squirt, won't be visiting as planned, I have the whole Easter weekend to work on my site.
Fingers crossed!
Another delivery from the gift fair arrived today! Will they never end? Hopefully, there will be one more before Easter.
Nite all.
Monday, April 10, 2017
Down Time
It has been a strange day for me.
I was keen to get into my office and get started on my website, but my desk and one cupboard had become a resting ground for everything that had come into the office over the last 8 weeks, so I spent about almost 2 hours tidying, clearing, filing, labelling, sorting and culling.
I sat down and found my 'to do' list.
It was long.
I began to research computer programs for keeping an inventory of stock. Ridiculous prices.
I looked at some apps specifically designed for that. They didn't sit well with me.
I gave up on the stocktake and inventory.
I decided that photographing my stock to put on the website was my next priority.
I looked at my camera.
I thought about my stock. I thought about the seven drawers full of jewellery, the cupboards filled with journals, the shelves with wallets and purses.
Where the heck do I even start? Where do I take the photos? How do I stage the photographs? Which stock will I do first? What lens will be the best option? Where will I find the best lighting? Will I use the tripod, or just hand hold the camera? Will I photograph ALL of the jewellery, or just a select few items?
Do I write out the descriptions as I take the photos, or wait until I edit the photos, or wait until I load them onto the site?
I gave up on photographing the stock.
I made lunch. Tuna and sweet potato fritters with a spicy tomato sauce.
I returned to my workspace, turned on the magnesium lamp and put some essential oil in the diffuser.
I shuffled some papers, checked my emails, completed a couple of pages from my academy workbook and returned a phone call regarding an order.
I suddenly felt tired and queasy in the stomach.
I lay on the bed and attempted to sleep.
I read for a while.
I gave up.
Adoring Husband suggested that we go for a walk along the beach, which we did. I felt amazingly better after that! Unfortunately, it was time to cook dinner, so I couldn't even take advantage of my newfound energy and mood lift!
This evening, I've done some work on my book idea, so I feel like I've accomplished something for the day.
A good night's sleep might help me for tomorrow's attempt at working.
Nite all.
I was keen to get into my office and get started on my website, but my desk and one cupboard had become a resting ground for everything that had come into the office over the last 8 weeks, so I spent about almost 2 hours tidying, clearing, filing, labelling, sorting and culling.
I sat down and found my 'to do' list.
It was long.
I began to research computer programs for keeping an inventory of stock. Ridiculous prices.
I looked at some apps specifically designed for that. They didn't sit well with me.
I gave up on the stocktake and inventory.
I decided that photographing my stock to put on the website was my next priority.
I looked at my camera.
I thought about my stock. I thought about the seven drawers full of jewellery, the cupboards filled with journals, the shelves with wallets and purses.
Where the heck do I even start? Where do I take the photos? How do I stage the photographs? Which stock will I do first? What lens will be the best option? Where will I find the best lighting? Will I use the tripod, or just hand hold the camera? Will I photograph ALL of the jewellery, or just a select few items?
Do I write out the descriptions as I take the photos, or wait until I edit the photos, or wait until I load them onto the site?
I gave up on photographing the stock.
I made lunch. Tuna and sweet potato fritters with a spicy tomato sauce.
I returned to my workspace, turned on the magnesium lamp and put some essential oil in the diffuser.
I shuffled some papers, checked my emails, completed a couple of pages from my academy workbook and returned a phone call regarding an order.
I suddenly felt tired and queasy in the stomach.
I lay on the bed and attempted to sleep.
I read for a while.
I gave up.
Adoring Husband suggested that we go for a walk along the beach, which we did. I felt amazingly better after that! Unfortunately, it was time to cook dinner, so I couldn't even take advantage of my newfound energy and mood lift!
This evening, I've done some work on my book idea, so I feel like I've accomplished something for the day.
A good night's sleep might help me for tomorrow's attempt at working.
Nite all.
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