It's Saturday!

Three hours of fabulously creative therapeutic art, with four fabulously funny ladies who feed my soul (mostly).

Today, I finished my house number tile and began painting the clay baubles that I made two weeks ago. They will be threaded onto chains and become a hanging mobile when they're fired and finished.

As a group, we made the decision to create a mosaic pot for our next project! We are very excited and keen to get started and our mission this week, is to search out tiles and glass and other materials that we can use for our project.

I'm especially excited because I've had a plan, ever since we moved into our house, to mosaic the floor of our outdoor area. My old hairdresser once worked in an old shed with a concrete floor that had a beautiful mosaic design in the entry way and I absolutely loved it.

Once I get a feel for it, I hope that the experience will inspire me to design something amazing for my floor, and during the process I hope to discover a 'tile/glass/other heaven' where I can have easy access to all the materials that I need!

I've spent an hour this evening in Pinterest checking out lots of Mosaic Projects and I've created a board under the Romance Your Life Pinterest page. The most difficult part will be deciding on my design ... but I need to choose a pot first.

I like these ...

I also spent an hour in my workspace this afternoon, where I emptied a draw of paperwork so that I could fill it with the jewellery that arrived last week.

My desk is now a little clearer of jewellery, but it houses a pile of paperwork that needs a home! I seem to be chasing my tail.

I hope to spend an entire day at my desk tomorrow. Sunday will NOT be my day of rest. I want to be super productive!

That means that I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

On the Up and Up

Well, today was a better day.

Slow to start, but I got a lot done in my workspace.

Before I started work, I began watching a series on Netflix. I have Netflix on my iPad, so I signed in while I was still in bed and watched the first three episodes of 'Girlboss' which I really enjoyed, so I will probably start every day with a couple of episodes.

Today, I 'acquired' some photos of the Snap Buttons and Jewellery that were delivered yesterday, so I loaded them onto my computer, edited where necessary and began to add them to my website. I haven't published them for viewing yet, but I hope to finish adding them by Sunday.

Not all of the photos are there, so I will have to take some myself. There is still some work to do, but I can handle it.

Needless to say, my desk is currently covered with loads of jewellery and I'm not quite sure where I'm going to store it.

I guess I'll put THAT on the 'to do' list as well.

Anyway, I have ART tomorrow, so I'd best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Just UGH!

What a crappy day.

Today is twelve years since my Mum died and I reckon it has been one of my worst anniversaries to date. I've been feeling miserable and out of sorts all day. I haven't been able to focus on anything and I've been moody and cranky.

So I've decided to write the day off and file it under 'bereavement'.

First thing this morning as I opened Facebook, there was a musical meme staring me, of Mum's favourite muppet .. Kermit The Frog .. and the background music was 'Rainbow Connection' which Mum loved and often played for Vegan Chickie when she was a baby.

The quote on the meme was...

'The only thing making you unhappy are your own thoughts. Change them."

The quote only served to cement the sad thoughts in my head!

Tomorrow I will change my thoughts ... not today.

Just Ugh!

Nite all.

Today Was Nice!

Adoring Husband had official SES business this morning, which meant that I could spend a couple of hours at Stocklands on my own.

This is a dangerous thing.

One pair of shoes, eight tops, one pair of long black pants and two lipsticks later, Adoring Husband appeared in his uniform and we continued shopping. A haircut for him, a new suitcase for me, a jumper for him (because he will be heading south soon where it's bloody cold!) and some groceries.

Now RUN for the car and don't look back!!

The best part about this time of year, is that the shops are full of Winter clothes and there is always a sale rack FULL of very cheap Summer clothes. I just can't stand wearing sleeves and it doesn't get cold enough here to wear sleeves anyway.

Everything I bought today was at least 50% off and some had a further 50% off the sale price, so at least I was budget conscious!

I LOVE my new suitcase (which was also on sale). Adoring Husband purchased it for me. My old suitcase is about ten years old and has been well and truly worn out. The wheels have worn down and the corners are frayed, so it was time to replace it before the wheels fell off in the middle of a trip.

So no work was performed in my workspace today, but there was a little bit of housework here and there.

Both Adoring Husband and I had a very short nap on the couch late this afternoon, which is not so unusual for him, but very unusual for me!

Here I am, just after midnight, thinking about bed, so ...

Nite all.

Where did it go?

Where the heck did the day go?

Yesterday, I thought I would have the day to myself for a full day of work at my desk ... forgetting, of course, that Tuesday is coffee day with the girls!

So it was 11am before my coffee date was over .. even though there were only two of us. We had plenty to say and plenty to share, so thanks Tweedle Dee for a lovely morning!

I bought some groceries and then returned home to an empty house. Adoring Husband had SES duties today, so I went straight to my desk.

I created my next pdf freebie to give away on the website, but I can't give it away until I've created the next step and that is going to take some time.

Adoring Husband arrived home and we had time to catch up on our day before he started banging and crashing around the house searching for his glasses and then searching for phone numbers so that he could retrieve his glasses from where he left them.

I cleared some emails and printed some paperwork and saved some documents.

Then we remembered that we had a date this afternoon to visit Beauty to help celebrate her successful application for Australian citizenship. Sadly, I missed the ceremony today, but what a fabulous crowd of friends gathered at her house.

Beauty is very loved and well respected in this community and particularly in her very large circle of friends and I really felt honoured to be on that deck with so many lovely people, sharing her delicious food and recognising an achievement of which she is obviously very proud

The other wonderful happening was seeing Rebel Mardi and The Life Saver there when we arrived! I had no idea that they were travelling up for the celebration and it was such a happy surprise. There just wasn't enough time to catch up on all the news!

My intention was to stay for about an hour and a half, which would get me home at 6pm.

We arrived home at 7.45pm.

It was a great afternoon/evening and I got to chat with a lot of different people, which is unusual, because my habit has always been to sit in one place and chat with one person all night. Once again, the Journey work that I did earlier in the year, has had a positive effect on my socialising and I am loving the difference!

It's midnight and I have a big day planned with Adoring Husband tomorrow, so I'd best hit the sack (that term gives me a flashback to my father!)

Nite all.

List Blues

I made a 'to do' list this morning, because I forgot to make it last night.

If I don't have a list of planned goals for the day, I am easily distracted and I get a lot of 'nothing' accomplished.

When there is no list to follow, I 'start' many tasks and 'finish' few.

So this was my list ...

1.  Photograph the new diaries and journals and put them on the website.

2.  Finish a product review that I've started and post it on the site.

3.  Create a newsletter to send to my subscribers.

4.  Do some manifesting.

5.  Spend time on my new idea.

I was in my workspace for more than seven hours and I only completed one thing from my list!

I photographed all of the diaries and journals that were delivered last week. I edited the photos and resized them. Then I added them to the shop with the sizes, descriptions, prices, tags and other information required.

I created a pin for Pinterest with a collage of some of the diaries and journals.

That's it.

I didn't even leave the room for lunch ... although I did take about 20 minutes to put some lamb shanks in the slow cooker.

So I obviously under estimated the work involved and I feel a bit disappointed that I only finished one task, however, I didn't get distracted so I know that it's been a full day's work.

At least I don't have to write a 'to do' list for tomorrow! Haha.

So I'm off to bed for a good night's sleep so that I'm ready for a full focussed day tomorrow.

Nite all.  

Get Fruity

Last night, Adoring Husband wanted dessert.

I knew this because as I walked out of the lounge room, he enquired "Are you going to get dessert?"

I replied "No" but then I walked out of the lounge room again later and he AGAIN asked "Are you getting dessert this time?"

So I went on a treasure hunt in my freezer and found some frozen pineapple and banana, which I whizzed up in the food processor with coconut milk and maple syrup to create fruity ice cream. Last night, I grated chocolate over the top, but today I tried something different.

I toasted some coconut flakes and I made salted caramel macadamia crumble to scatter over the ice cream.

This is my version of 'Fruit Whip Ice Cream' and you can find the recipe here.

This morning I visited The Motivator to deliver her Le Reve order. What was going to be a quick visit, ended up being a three hour visit!! Much was discussed, as always, and I left with that familiar feeling of motivation.

I rushed home to watch a webinar for which I had signed up this morning and even though I was 30 minutes late, the thirty minutes that I actually watched was great and I learned a lot.

Each free course and video that I watch gives me some new information.

There are so many free videos, each competing for my business, each at the end, wanting me to pay thousands to participate in their 'setting up website business' course.

I have watched about twenty five free videos so far.

Combined, those videos have provided me with so much valuable information, I'm certain that by now, I already know half of what their courses would teach me anyway!

At the end of today, I had recreated the dessert above and photographed the steps, edited the photos and added the recipe to my website, then added the link to my Facebook page.

Before I go to bed, I'll add it to my Pinterest page and perhaps Instagram as well.

So that's my Sunday.

Happy with my day.

Nite all.

Three Hours

Every Saturday morning, I share the fastest three hours of the week with a bunch of great ladies.

It seems to pass in the blink of an eye. We laugh and we tell stories about our lives or the week just gone  or our husbands and their unique foibles, or our kids. The conversations only waiver when we have to focus on our art in front of us!

We give each other such a hard time and we make fun of our teacher a lot. We drink coffee and we have a roster for lunches. It's my turn again in two weeks. Since I started classes, the girls always use gluten free bread for sandwiches, which makes me feel very special.

Ten minutes before the class finishes, we all scurry about, cleaning our areas and washing the tools and dishes so that our teacher is left with a clean studio.

Have I told you how much I love it?

I really love it.

This is one of my projects that I have in progress right now ...

It's going to be a pottery house number tile. This is the leather tile that I am cutting the shapes out of so that the soft clay tile shape can be pressed into it. After that's done, I then stain and paint the clay tile before it goes into the kiln for firing.

Next week, we start a new project! I still have this and the clay bauble mobile in progress, so I've brought this one home to finish cutting out the shapes before next week.

Tonight for dinner, I did duck breast with a parsnip and carrot puree. It was delicious, but afterwards, Adoring Husband felt the need for dessert. I had a container each of chopped pineapple and banana in the freezer, so I tossed it in the food processor with half a cup of coconut milk and a drizzle of maple syrup and blended it til it was smooth. I grated some dark chocolate over the top and served a big bowl of it to him.

With my own bowl of ice cream, I sprinkled some Himalayan salt over the top and drizzled some more maple syrup over it. I think it would be delicious with salted candied walnuts! I will definitely put the recipe for the pineapple ice cream on my website ... tomorrow!

Meanwhile, I have one more video to watch from a mini course that I'm doing .. to learn how to do webinars. I don't think I will ever be brave enough to do a webinar, but you never know!

For now, I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Horses for Courses

I've had to practice some strong self control today.

There are many different websites that run amazing courses to teach you how to create a website, build large email lists, make amazing passive income, write ebooks, develop e-courses, promote and market and manifest and be socially networked.

Freshly Implemented, Teachable, Rich20Something, Lucky Bitch, PursuitHQ and so many more, all offering great value for money courses that will help me grow and improve my business. They all start with free webinars and follow up with a free challenge or mini course and THEN they offer the prime package for a cost.

They toss you the bait and then BAM!!!

I was strong. I refrained. I continue searching for all the free mini courses and I continue to grab interesting little tidbits of information that I can put into place in my business.

Once I start bringing in a steady income, then I will think about investing in further education.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the learning process and my brain is soaking up so much right now, I just wish it would move a bit faster .. although, I must admit, I've been so busy learning for the last two days, that I have neglected my social networking and I have only gained one new follower to my Facebook page and one new subscriber to my site.

Still, every little bit helps.

It's now rapidly moving towards 1am and I have just finished watching another educational video, but I should really get some sleep because tomorrow is ART DAY!! Wahoo!!

Thinking of Happy Harry and Lady Lynn and hoping for some good health news soon.

Nite all.

Productively Me

Self imposed workathon today.

I didn't leave the house at all and spent the day at my desk.

I found some more affiliate sites.  I watched a tutorial on how to create and launch an e-course. I watched a tutorial on how to recruit course participants. I designed a mock cover and the index for my book.

I wrote 3/4 of a post for a product review. I made a list of 30 money making ideas. I posted a photo of my lunch, which Adoring Husband made for me, onto FB.  I cleared all of my emails and I did two loads of washing.

I'm sure that I did other stuff too, but I can't remember. Oh I took a delivery of journals, which were the remainder of a previous order that I'd forgotten about.

I had my Himalayan Salt lamp on all day and diffused Frankincense oil. Oh and I did some manifest work too.

I feel pretty good about my productivity level for today and I have a 'to do' list already written up for tomorrow.

Adoring Husband had SES duties tonight, so I got a bit of extra work done and I watched a very good NRL match between Sharks and Cowboys. The Cowboys were winning 14 nil at half time and the Sharks came back after half time to win 18 - 14. Very happy with that outcome.

Here is some writing by Leonie Dawson ...

Today, and every day, you have permission.

You have permission.

Today, and every day, you have permission.

You have permission to say NO to demands on your time that don't light you up and don't give energy back to you.

You have permission to not give a crap what's happening outside your world, and keep your energy focussed on what you are creating.

You have permission to let go of friendships that make you feel like sh&%.

You have permission to say no whenever you like, however you like, in whatever kind of voice you like, without feeling like only Mean Girls Say No and Nice Girls Say Yes. That's bull. Yes and No have equal weighting - what's important is if you use them when they are the best thing for you, not out of fear, obligation or guilt.

You have permission to know that Yes is powerful, and so is No. The power comes from you using either from your highest spirit and truest integrity.

You have permission to change. You have permission to not be the person you once were.

You have permission to get angry and self-righteous, and to also glean the wisdom from those emotions. They are leading you to where your boundaries are, and where they have been crossed, and what you need to do from now on.

You have permission to not be more like anyone else in the world, even if you think they are better, wiser or more popular. You have permission to be more like yourself, your gifts and your wisdom.

You have permission to not care what other people think of you.

You have permission to not try to change what other people think of you. You can't ever argue that you are a good person. They will either know you are, or not. You don't need to spend time with people who don't believe in you.

You have permission to do things that your friends and family do not.

You have permission to be wild, expressive, truthful, exciting and outspoken.

You have permission to not accept friendship requests on Facebook, or anywhere else in your life. You have permission to block people whenever you like.

You have permission to share as much or as little as you like. You have permission to blog, or not blog. You have permission to Twitter, or not to Twitter. It doesn't really matter. As long as it's making you happy, that the best thing.

You have permission to suck at a wide variety of activities. It's okay. You make up for it with your million other brilliance particles.

You have permission to be whatever body shape you like.

You have permission to choose, and choose again. And then choose again.

You have permission to not always be a perfect image of something.

You have permission to be a contradiction.

You have permission to not go to your school reunion, unless it really excites you and delights you, and you would love to really heart-reconnect with people you went to school with.

You have permission to not be interested in the newest fad: harem pants, geek glasses, Polaroid cameras, scrapbooking, macrame. You also have permission to totally obsess with them, if it makes your heart light up.

You have permission to cut people from your life. You have permission to surround yourself with people who are good and loving and nurturing to you.

You have permission to be a disappointment to some people, as long as you're not a disappointment to yourself.

You have permission to do nothing whenever you like.

You have permission to make your big dream come true.

You have permission to not do it all perfectly, or have all your sh&% together.

You have permission to not forgive people. You have permission to forgive people when it's right for you.

You have permission to think some people are crazy. You have permission to think some people are smigging ice-cream with chocolate and wafers and sprinkles and cherries on top.

You have permission to not have the perfect relationship.

You have permission to take whatever time you need for you.

You have permission to make ridiculous choices for yourself.

You have permission to use and listen to your intuition. To feel when things are off, and to remove yourself from them, even when you don't quite know why. You will always find out why. Our intuition is here to serve us.

You have permission to be down. You have permission to be up.

You have permission to still believe in unicorns and fairies.

You have permission to believe in things that other people think are very very odd and strange. You have permission to believe in things that make your life whole, richer and deeper. You have permission to make your own world that is the truest painting of you.

You have permission to suck at colouring in.

You have permission to say bugger off to anyone who has ever told you that you're not good enough, you're not worth it, you are not beautiful, you are not lovable and you are not the most divine, wise, delicious Goddess to walk the planet.

You have permission to know that you are.

You have permission to swear when you like, however you like, to your reckless abandon.

You have permission to not be the best of anything - just the best of yourself. And some days, just the best you can do that day.

You have permission to not always give. You have permission to fill your own cup up first.

You have permission to have things around you that delight you.

You have permission to live in a tepee if you want to, or a mansion. Whatever makes your spirit shine is the right thing for you.

You have permission to make choices on whether it makes your spirit shine.

You have permission to know you are a goddess, even when it doesn't feel like it. Even when you feel utterly human. Even when you want nothing more than to climb under your blanket, or light up the sky.

You are a Goddess.
You have permission.
You have permission.
You have permission.

Big Love,
Leonie.  

I'm so Lucky!

Today, I want to celebrate my lucky life!

I have so much to feel excited and happy about.

For a start ... I spent almost the entire day IN bed and IN my pyjamas! How many of you would feel comfortable doing that? How many of you would feel overwhelming guilt about staying in bed when you're not sick? How many of you have partners who would question such self indulgence?

Most women have been conditioned to get out of bed at a certain time. We have a daily routine or schedule that we follow every day and we fill our days with productive activities and express feelings of boredom if we have 'time' on our hands.

Not me!

I ordered a book a couple of weeks ago called 'Get Rich, Lucky Bitch' by Denise Duffield-thomas and I started reading it last Friday. I hadn't had a chance to get back to it, so I decided that today, I would stay in bed until I finished it.

Adoring Husband brought my morning coffee, just as he always does, but today he made my lunch and delivered that to me in bed too!

It was after 2pm by the time I read the last page and closed the book. And what a great book it was! It inspired me and my imagination is going crazy with money making ideas that I hope to bring to fruition in the coming months and years. Who knew that I could think long term??

So I'm feeling incredibly blessed. I have a husband who supports my indulgences and understands the time and effort required to establish a business, giving me the space and support to do just that.

I have friends who encourage me with my big ideas and who get excited by my successes providing me with emotional support and inspiration to push through the rough spots.

I enjoy a lifestyle that that nurtures my very being.

My kids make me proud in so many ways and for so many reasons. Each of them have their own strengths, intelligence and abilities that amaze me. I breed them tough. I miss all three of them and love them very much. Olive Juice. Thanks for calling. Full Stop No Returns.

I feel healthier and stronger now, than I have for about twenty years.

Life is very good and I am incredibly lucky!

After coming to all of these realisations, I spent a couple of hours in my workspace, where I watched an educational and inspirational video for 35 mins, cleared 2,000 emails (YES, that reads two thousand emails) and checked the stats on my Facebook and Pinterest accounts. I also had one new subscriber to my website today, which was exciting. Once the initial wave of subscribers passed, it seems to be pretty slow going.

I did have one more sale today though, so that's five in three weeks. Small steps haha, but still impressive, comparatively speaking (i.e. compared to most other longer running websites in the academy), so I'm still happy with my progress.

Right now, I'm deciding whether to stay awake and watch the 2nd Bridget Jones movie, or go to bed!

Nite all.

Happy Day

Tuesday is my happy day.

Morning tea with the girls is always a favourite part of my week. There were only four of us very briefly today, but the Blonde Bombshell (aka Yip Yip) left early due to other commitments and then our group reduced further when Lady Lynn had to leave early to visit Happy Harry.

A big shout out to Happy Harry who is having troubles with his health at the moment. May the golden orb of good health swallow your illness and leave you glowing and improving at a rapid rate. Big warm hugs to you xo

Our morning tea group increased again to three when The Motivator appeared and we invited her to join us. We hope that she will join us again in the future!

From morning tea, the three of us walked to the art room which is located behind the Elder's building.  It's a beautiful big space with lots of art and craft products for sale and a big table to work at for people who join the painting workshops. It would have been an ideal space for The Motivator and I to use for our ideas, but alas, it obviously wasn't meant to be.

I returned home to eat lunch and then escaped to my workspace while Adoring Husband was out of the house on SES duties.

I added a new 'Healthy Habits' post on my website. By the time I formatted it to suit all of the devices (iPad, phone and laptop), it took much longer than I expected, so I think I need to figure out a more time efficient way to do that.

I printed out some manifesting sheets from the Lucky Bitch website.

I wrote out a list of recipes to put in my first recipe book.

I finalised an agreement with one affiliate.

I created and added another Quote pic  on Pinterest and Facebook.

I printed out a 'Hashtags for Dummies' course and worksheet. (I'll be able to better explain hashtags to Reality TV Queen next time I see her! She asked me questions at coffee one morning and I wasn't able to give her a lot of detail.) Reading that is on my 'to do' list tomorrow.

So, once again, even though I did quite a lot in five hours, there is still SO MUCH MORE to do. But I'm not panicking about it. I'm going with the flow, taking it as it comes and allowing it to progress all in good time. I'm teaching myself not to stress about it. It's a conscious effort though ... I have to stop my thoughts from leading to that stressful place! Just breathe.

Here we are at 10pm and I am off to bed.

Nite all.



  

... And So Much More

I really love this and there are things that I would like to add, for myself, and I'm sure you can think of your own additions that are meaningful. 

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
Enough money within her control to move out...
And rent a place of her own
even if she never wants to
or needs to... 

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
Something perfect to wear if the employer
or date of her dreams wants to See Her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
A youth she's content to leave behind....
A past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her Old Age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
A set of screwdrivers,
a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
One friend who always makes her laugh...
And one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
A good piece of furniture not previously owned
by anyone else in her Family...
Eight matching plates,
wine glasses with stems,
And a recipe for a meal that will make
her guests feel Honored...
A feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
How to fall in love without losing herself..
How to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without
ruining the friendship...
When to try harder...
And WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
That she can't change the length of her calves,
The width of her hips,
or the nature of her parents..
That her childhood may not have been perfect...
But it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she would and wouldn't do for love or more...
How to live alone...
Even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
Whom she can trust,
Whom she can't,
And why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
Where to go...
Be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
Or a charming inn in the woods...
When her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
A month...
And a year...

Written by Pamela Redmond Satran

One of my Mothers-in-Law once told me to open a separate bank account and keep enough money in it so that I could move out and rent my own place if it was ever necessary. I thought at the time, that it was strange but excellent advice coming from the mother of my then partner!

Eventually, the need to put that advice into practice became necessary, so it's probably the most useful piece advice that I've ever received! 

I would like to give myself some useful advice right now ...

STOP PROCRASTINATING AND GET BACK TO WORK!!

I have done a lot today, but achieved nothing. Let's see if I can remedy that.

Nite all.

PS In case you haven't looked yet, here is my website ... Romance Your Life with Roz

A Blessing in Disguise

I have had a GREAT day.

I stayed in bed reading and taking notes until 10.30am.

I arranged to visit The Motivator, but she bailed on me when her day was suddenly bombarded with family duties.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I retreated to my workspace and got a LOT of work done during the afternoon.

I priced and logged some more of my jewellery - holy crap, I've got a lot of jewellery - and I still haven't finished that task yet.

I photographed some more pieces and I added some more of them to the Shiny Sparkly shop.

Tomorrow will be a full day at my desk when I will add a new recipe to my recipe page and update my 'Life as Roz Knows it' blog page. I may even be able to write my first photography story and begin a competition on the Facebook page.

That's a big plan and I shouldn't get too carried away haha.

Today was Mother's Day and I received a lovely phone call this morning from my little Chicklet wishing me Happy Grandmother's Day and Vegan Chickie who wished me a Happy Mother's Day. There was a nice message from Bubbles telling me that she loves and appreciates me EVERY day and thanking me for being amazing (sometimes) lol.

Number One son forgot about me this year - but he has just returned home from a big week in Sydney where he applied for a job that he REALLY wants so he probably has a lot going on in his mind. He will curse me for mentioning it here and for attempting to make him feel guilty lol, but he knows me.

Seriously, even though it's nice to hear from the kids on this day, I've never made a big deal of Mother's Day during their lives, and you can call me cynical, but it's just another commercially created day to make more money for the already wealthy.

Adoring Husband did cook me a delicious lunch of duck breast with salad and little side dishes of pesto sauce, coconut chilli mayo and kimchi. It was nice not to have to think about making lunch, and it was absolutely delicious.

So to all the mothers out there and all the people acting in maternal positions ...

Nite all.    

A Saturday of Fun

What a day!

I made the very poor decision to stay in bed until an hour before I had to leave for Art. Then I remembered that I had to provide a plate of food for the Le Reve party which was going to follow straight after Art! So, imagine that it's 8.30am and I have an hour to play with.

I got up, got dressed, organised everything that I usually take to Art, accepted Adoring Husband's offer to drive me to the shops - I needed the ATM to get money to pay for my class and I needed food to create a quick platter,

We returned home and I rushed into the kitchen to make an avocado dip similar to guacamole, chopped some carrot, cucumber and celery sticks to dip into the avocado and then made a fruit platter with watermelon, grapes, kiwi fruit and mandarine.

I wrapped a pottery bowl to take with me because I wanted to show Teach what I would like my next project to be, packed all the food into the cold bag, gathered the Le Reve gift bags for the girls who ordered at my last party, tidied the kitchen and was ready for my lift which arrived right on time at 9.30am.

What a rush!

I enjoyed three hours of art, which involved creating another clay tile. I traced my drawing over the leather tile, drew over the faint lines to make it easier to work and then began carving the shapes out of the leather. It's slow work, but very therapeutic.

I now have four projects on the go.

Two clay tiles. One with the Tawny Frogmouth face and the second, a house number tile with a fancy design around it. My clay bust still has to be fired, but we have to wait for the school Art class to finish firing their work before we can use that kiln. The fourth project is a clay bauble mobile.

I love working with clay. REALLY love it.

After we cleaned up the studio, we moved to the outdoor area and waited for the Le Reve hostess to arrive. There was plenty of food, none of which I could eat - except for what I brought myself - which didn't bother me one little bit.

The girls were all telling funny stories about how they met their husbands and OMG, I thought I was going to wet myself! They were hilarious! Everybody has a story, but it's the way they tell it.

After some great belly laughs and a belly full of food, we'd all ordered our Le Reve goods and headed home. Instead of going home with my usual girls, I left with The Motivator so that I could carry her clay bust on my lap and then help her set up her new TV before The Fisher King arrived home from his day out on the ocean.

I realised that I forgot to get some meat out for dinner, but luckily I had a freezer full of Hainan Chicken, so it was easy to thaw and heat it up in a saucepan.

Now we have an evening of football for Super Saturday, but honestly I'm so exhausted, I think I'll head to bed shortly ... and it's not only 8pm!

I hope that I can spend Mother's Day in my workspace adding something new to my website as well as loading some more items into my shops. So many plans spinning around in my head!

But for now ...

Nite all.

Fabulous Friday

Just in case you didn't get to take a look yet, here is the link to my website ...

Romance Your Life

I'm extremely happy with the progress so far. I've made three sales, I've received favourable comments, I have almost 40 subscribers in less than three weeks and 110 followers on Facebook.

I passed around my business cards at the Bowls Club tonight and the ladies there (outside of my immediate group) seemed pretty keen to check it out, so no doubt they will let me know what they think next week.

There is still a lot of work to do. My 'to do' list is a mile long and never ending. I still need to work on my time management. No matter how much I do, at the end of the day it still seems like a spit in the ocean.

I spent a grand total of one hour on the website today.

I added some jewellery to the online shop and I posted an update on Facebook with a link to the journal shop.

Tomorrow is already completely filled with my art class and my art teacher's Le Reve party, so no work will be done - unless I can make the great escape early from the party!

It's almost midnight. I'm off to bed.

Nite all.  

Hurtle Through Thursday

The day went so quickly!

We left home at 9.30am and returned at 2.30pm.

We picked up Adoring Husband's new reading glasses.

We did a little grocery shopping.

We paid a bill.

We met Best Cousin in the World and Marco Polo for lunch at the Bay Tavern.

We visited one of my most dangerous stores. I walked into Office Works expecting to spend $6. We left, having spent more than $120!! I seriously had to make a conscious decision to stop browsing EVERY aisle and go to the checkout!

We picked up the FROG box on the way home.

This afternoon we watched the animated movie 'Sing'.

As an adult with life experience and a reasonable amount of common sense, I enjoyed it, but I don't think it sends a very good message to children.

Buster Moon, the koala and main character, was an irresponsible business owner, who couldn't pay his bills and used every trick in the book to avoid his responsibilities. He not only lied, but made his secretary lie and pass on his pathetic excuses to avoid being accountable for his actions.

Johnny, the gorilla, was disowned by his father for 1. disappearing in the middle of a crime, the result being incarceration for the father 2. not being anything like his father - and the only reason that the father decided to love him again was because he was singing on television becoming famous.

Rosita, the female pig, was an overworked, unrecognised wife and mother whose 25 kids were out of control and whose husband took her for granted and either completely ignored her or made fun of her. The only way she received any positive attention from any member of her family was when she suddenly became famous in the show.

Ash, the porcupine, was used and manipulated by her overbearing and controlling narcissistic boyfriend, who then picked up another female porcupine 'because Ash had been selected over him for the show and consequently "was never there"for him. She suddenly got his attention when she became famous not just singing, but singing her own song.

Mike, the mouse, was a nasty bully who used violence and aggravation to get what he wanted from the physically and mentally weak. He was a liar and a cheat who got away with everything AND ended up with the girl!

Meena, the elephant, was mercilessly bullied and teased by her father for not taking her singing public and making herself famous (the way he would have IF he had a singing voice) and then she was used by everyone to do their dirty work until she eventually got to sing in the final scene of the movie.

The one small pleasant lesson that we learned right at the end of the move, was to not let fear get in the way of your dreams.

These are the movies that condition our kids to accept all of the negative qualities that each of those animated characters possessed.

It also teaches them that unless you are famous or doing something amazing, they should expect to be treated badly by the people in their world because they are not worthy of anything better.

Anyway, that's my 'take' on the movie SING and if I had children, I would be hesitant to take them to see it.

Don't hate me.

Here it is 9pm and I believe it's possible that I'm in for an early night, which would be great and make for an easy day of work tomorrow, because my brain might function close to maximum capacity!

Nite all.  

Wetter and Cooler

I think it's safe to say that everybody is happy with the cooler, wetter change that we are currently experiencing with our weather.

Everybody (except me) has brought out the long sleeves and the tracky dacks.

I *LOVE* this weather.

My whole day has been spent indoors - but NOT due to the weather.

I didn't even wake up until 9.30am - it was almost 1.30am when I climbed into bed and about 2am when I fell asleep, so I guess it's to be expected - but I actually woke up quite often during the morning and looked at my watch, which had stopped at 7.10am and my semi sleeping brain just didn't register that the hands had stopped moving and I kept thinking 'just 5 more minutes'.

Eventually, Adoring Husband brought my coffee in saying "At last. You're awake!"

I said "What do you mean 'at last'?" He replied "It's 9.30am"

I cursed.

However, I didn't get out of bed. Instead, I sat up in bed enjoying my coffee and checking my emails - which contained quite a few jewellery sales that I wasn't expecting! What a pleasant surprise!

It was an amazing way to start my day.

At 10.30am I got dressed and went straight to my workspace.

I priced, logged and photographed some more of my jewellery.

I selected the winner of my Leonie Dawson pack from the people who had subscribed to my website and followed the other instructions that were on my Facebook page.

I packaged up the jewellery to mail off to my new customers tomorrow.

I had a short visit from Lady Lynn and LL Mini Me, which was lovely. My rebounder got a workout while Lady Lynn perused my wares. It was a lovely visit but LL Mini Me was unusually quiet until it was time to leave.

This afternoon, I added a short post to my website to announce the winner of my give away.

I created some memes and quotes to add to Pinterest and Facebook.

I began planning my first photography lesson and challenge for Romance Your Life.

I cooked a quick crispy skinned chicken thigh fillet with a side of cucumber, capsicum, avocado, onion and grape salsa, some kimchi and a squirt of my special spicy tomato sauce.

After dinner, I watched a 30 minute preparation video for a course about building and increasing business online. It was more motivational, than factual .. but I tend to respond better to motivational stuff anyway.

I also watched Britain's Got Talent and sat here with tears rolling down my cheeks after watching those precious little Irish kids sing in their choir and then receive four 'yeses' to continue to the next round. They were so adorable.

Now, it's after 11pm and I really need to get some sleep. We have a big day in The Bay tomorrow and I don't want to sleep in until 9.30am again!

Nite all.

Rainy Tuesday

It started rainy and it's ending rainy.

I woke to the sound of rain on the rooftop this morning and I will be falling asleep to the same sound.

It did stop during the day and we experienced patchy showers.

The air is fresh and it finally feels like Autumn.

I enjoyed the usual Tuesday morning coffee with the girls and The Blonde Bombshell (aka yip yip) made sure that there were no silences, uncomfortable or otherwise lol. It was a two hour coffee morning during which we had a couple of ring ins stop briefly for a chat.

The Le Reve lady dropped off the orders late yesterday afternoon, so I was able to deliver the little gift bags to some of the girls at coffee.

After a quick visit to the butcher, I pedalled to The Motivator's house to drop off her Le Reve order and spent an hour having fun going over some of her work with her.

What a huge responsibility she carries with her lighting and design work. The difference between my imagination and the reality of what she does, is quite significant.

I believe I walked away with an extra line in my forehead from frowning, contemplating, imagining, re-imagining, considering numerous possibilities and generally hurting my brain!

I'm happy that I can walk away and not feel responsible for such decision! I'm happy to know someone so skilled and talented and well respected in that field. LA LA LA!!

I returned home and cooked up a big batch of sausages, pork and beef, and created a spicy and tangy tomato sauce to go with them.

I juiced enough pineapple, apple, grapes, dragon fruit, coconut water and water to fill a tall jug (it was  delicious!).

After lunch I headed to my workspace, where I completed another social media course, updated some  plugins on my website, priced and tagged all of my silver necklace chains and sorted through my 'snap' jewellery trying to figure out how I can efficiently photograph so my items for display on the site and I checked my emails.

Adoring Husband found his way home quite late from a big SES day, but had to leave immediately for another job. Needless to say I got a lot of work done this afternoon.

I cooked up a delicious dinner of lamb loin chops with broccoli, carrot, charred zucchini and some cauliflower puree.

The rest of my evening has been spent planted on the couch, deleting emails and monitoring social media.

Tomorrow will be another day of website work. There is a lot to do. Never ending and continuous. Prioritise. Time management. 'To Do' lists. Ideas. Follow up. Writing. Creating. Brainstorming. Blah Blah Blah.

I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

  

Productivity at Last

It was an early start to the day because I had to work.

From work, I rode to get my coffee and for the first time in weeks, visited my boys at The Seat of Knowledge. Knowing that I had a couple of parcels arriving today, I stayed with the boys for more than an hour, killing time until the Post Office opened.

I picked up a large birthday parcel sent by Beautiful Girl With The Long Blonde Hair and it contained an array of perfect birthday gifts that included a cane woven heart, a framed quote, some bling, a boho bag and a hand made cushion cover. All perfectly suited to my tastes .. of course lol.

The second parcel was a DVD that I ordered about a week ago.

I returned home and headed straight for my workspace.

I completed a 5 lesson course on successfully using Pinterest for a business website and then put some of what I'd learned into practice. I'll work more on that tomorrow.

I added the final post for the subscriber's competition on the Romance Your Life Facebook page.

I used something that I created for Pinterest and added it to Twitter and Instagram.

I replaced the cover pictures for the different shops on the site with something more uniform.

I set out a plan to ramp up the social media posts and I've planned my next couple of updates on pages of the website.

This is a huge learning curve that sometimes feels so daunting, I'm almost afraid to take the next step. It's difficult not to rest on my laurels, enjoying the success of just launching the site, and I have to continue pushing myself and try to remember that this is supposed to be a business and I need to work it every day.

Important things like time management, strategic planning, marketing and communication all need to be studied, implemented and improved upon if this is going to be successful.

So it's time to get serious, get moving, and pump things along.

*raises fist in the air*

So let's do this!!

After a good night's sleep ha!

Nite all.