Time for a change...............

I have recently made a career decision that I should have figured out quite a while ago. I have realised that I tolerate children alot better than I do adults!!! With this realisation comes news that I am going back to childcare and I cannot wait.

Don't get me wrong - I have actually enjoyed working in the customer service industry. It has made me a stronger person and has also made me respect other people in the customer service service industry, but it is just not me.

In the past 9 years I have worked in the U.S on a cruiseship, I then worked in Canada managing a retail store and most recently I worked in Australia in the banking industry. One thing I learned about all three jobs is that there are rude and ignorant people all over the world and they are never going to go away so you can either take it and crumble or become a stronger person from these negative experiences and learn not to behave this way to other people. I of course have chosen to take the latter experience and become a better person from it but not all people do.

Just this past week at my banking job I had one of the worst customer's I've had ever. She asked me to do something that was against company policy and then decided to go on a tirade about how she used to work for the same company, that I don't know my job, that she knows people in the same company who will do it for her - basically she wanted to belittle me in front of the other customer's. This was somebody who has been in my shoes and knows how our hands can be tied but still she decided to humilate me instead of being understanding. All I could think of was how I would never, and have never, done this to anybody in their workplace. It is not in me to be so rude to people - I know I will have alot of people who would vouch for me there. I just don't understand how some people think they can be like this and think that is okay. People ???? I just don't get them sometimes.

On brighter news - I am back to working with little people at the same kindy I left 9 years when I started my overseas venture. I am so excited to be getting back into childcare and possibly getting back to stuyding again.

Yesterday, my neice celebrated her 4th birthday with a Princess Party so below is a picture of me dressed with my fairy wings and with my face painted.

See, I should be working with children............... sometimes I still feel like one.

Till next time......................

Weekend Away

Don't you just love weekend getaways! My DH and I headed down south to Kingscliff after work on Thursday to stay in a beautiful Hotel for the weekend. We took Friday off from work and stayed there for three nights - it was amazing.

We chose this past weekend as it was my hubby's birthday and our anniversary the following weekend. We stayed in a resort and spa called Pepper's and it was just gorgeous. Our suite was huge. It had a mini kitchen, dining area and lounge area, a huge king sized bed and a spa tub. We also had a room with a private plunge pool - it was too cold to go in the water but we layed out in the sun anyways.

Here is a photo of the view from our balcony to our private pool. Behind the bushes is the larger pool and the spa!

On the Friday we drove down to Byron Bay - it is always fun driving down there. We like to take a stroll through the town and check out what the hippies are up to!! We actually met a really nice lady in a 2nd hand book shop that we got chatting to. Of all things we were talking about the youth of today - needless to say we were there for a while. After a stroll we stopped to have some fish and chips and met another lively character of Byron Bay. The owner of the fish and chip shop was telling us about when he went to the Calgary Stampede back in the 60's!!

Here is a photo of our fish and chips - it was sooooooooooooo yummy!

On the way home from Byron we stopped at the Byron Bay Cookie Co. These are the best cookies in town! They are so good and I had to stock up on our way out of Byron.

On the Saturday we were expecting my sister and her husband to join us at Pepper's. They too were celebrating their wedding anniversary and we invited them to spend the Saturday with us. We had a great day of feasting on cheese and crackers. We spent the afternoon laying by the pool and then we jumped into the spa! I think we were in the spa for nearly 2 hours - we were so relaxed - it was great.

Our weekend ended with the whole family getting together on Sunday for birthday cake for my DH's birthday and my father's birthday. A great end to a great weekend.

We are already planning another weekend away.

Till next time..................

Everybody's Working For The Weekend!!!

The weeks these day's seem to fly by so fast - which is a good thing as I LOVE my weekends!! As soon as we hit Hump Day (Wednesday for those not in the know), it is all down hill from there.

Had another great weekend with some really hot Summer weather. Took this opportunity to get into the swimming pool for this first time this Summer. The water was still quite chilly but my neice, Olivia, reallly really wanted to go for a swim and I find it really hard to say 'no' to her.

My DH and I actually had Olivia with us all day on Saturday as her parents were painting her new surprise cubby house for her and needed her out of the house. We had a great day with Olivia - first we had to do some shopping and then we stopped for a 'snack'. A Max Brenner style snack. Max Brenner's is chocolate heaven, so you can only imagine that a 3.5 year old could go nuts here!!! We had a chocolate fondue and a chocolate brownie with ice cream and my neice had a babycino with chocolate syrup on top. There was chocolate EVERYWHERE. My neice really got into the 'dipping' aspect of the fondue - at first she was hesitant but she really got into it in no time at all. It was awesome!!!

So,what happens once you give a kid chocolate - they get a really good sugar high and Olivia was no exception. The transformation was amazing - she went from quiet and shy little girl to crazy and loud mouthed sugar baby!! It was hilarious - my DH and I couldn't stop laughing at what we had created with just a little bit of chocolate!! When we got home she kept her energy up by going for a swim and then dancing to Black Eyed Peas.

That night we went out for dinner with my brother and sister's and their families. We went to Aqua restaurant at a place called Labrador. The food was okay but the service was horrible!! My brother turned up first and he said that he had absolutly nobody come to see if he and his family needed a beveridge. Nobody brought out menu's. It was quite ridiculous. Then our main server was acting like he didn't want to be there. I asked for a West Coast Cooler and his response was ' we don't have that'. He didn't even try to offer an alternative so I said I just want water and he couldn't even manage to bring that out.

That's one thing I cannot stand - bad service. Our table spent $500 - there was alot of us - and I don't feel we got the standard of service that came with a bill that size. Not to matter - we had a great night, a few laughs - it's always good to get together, we always have fun.

Finally, today was the NRL Grand Final - Melbourne Storm Vs Parramatta Eels. I don't follow either team so I did't really care who won, I just wanted to see a really good game. I was kinda siding with the Eels as my twin sister goes for them but unfortunatley they lost!! That's another footy season over - can't wait for next year.





Till next time............

What is a scrapbooker to do??

Australia has it all............ sun, surf, sand, great weather BUT we do not have any good scrapbooking or stamping stores. What is up with that??

When I first moved back home I made sure I knew where the local scrapbook stores were so that if I needed anything I knew where to go. I then recently found out that there is a stamp store nearby too. You can just imagine how excited I was about that.

This past weekend I got back into making some birthday cards - just for fun. I needed some more supplies so my DH gave me the go-ahead to stock up on what I needed. (I always feel guilty buying scrapbooking supplies so this was a bonus that my husband said to 'go for it').

We decided to go and find the stamp store first as I was using old stamps and just wanted a new batch of stamps - liven my cards up a bit. Couldn't find the store - it had been closed down!! Strike One!!

Headed to one of the scrapbooking stores that I found when I first got here. Sign is up but guess what............ store has been closed down!! Strike Two!!

Continued driving to the last scrapbooking store that I know of in the area. I had covered my eyes as I was scared it may have been closed down too. To my surprise it wasn't - yeh!! Got to buy some supplies to make my nephew a mini album. Only one problem with this store..... there was a For Lease sign up in the front of the store. I asked the lady at the store if they were closing down...... she said VERY hesitantly 'no the owner hasn't said that'. Bull - why would there be a For Lease sign up if you were going to continue running the store and re-signing the lease.

I now have no scrapbooking stores to go to. Can you believe that. I can buy some supplies from some of the department stores but for all my stamps and high quality supplies I am going to have to become familiar with online shopping!!!

Before my crisis took place I did make a few cards with some really cute new paper I bought. I got the card idea from my friend Eleonor who is queen of cardmaking. Hope you like!!

Till next time................

Lazy Bones

To my dear friends who have wondered what the heck I have been doing since my last post - I do apologize. I guess time just gets away to the point where you don't realize that there is only 3 months till Christmas and I haven't posted on my blog for a good few months now. A quick run down as to what's been up!

My husband and I headed to Vancouver for a two week vacation back in August. We had a wedding to go to and a 1st birthday to attend and lots of catching up to do with family and friends that we left behind nearly a year ago. It was a great trip and we enjoyed seeing everybody again and getting in some shopping that we have missed since moving to Australia.

I was a little sick when I first arrived and think it was a mixture of jet-lag and catching a cold on the plane. The flight home was just awesome!!! I say that very sarcastically. I was seated next to a young man who decided it was not in his best interest to shower before getting on a 14 hour flight!! I was honestly to the point of tears as I sat in my chair (trying not to inhale) and contemplating how I was going to survive this long flight. My DH did offer to switch seats but either way one of us was going to have to deal with the odor. I was glad I remembered to bring a small bottle of perfume on the plane with me and decided to put some on my upper lip and squirt some in the smelly boys direction - just to see if he would take a hint (he didn't).

On sadder news, it is coming to the end of Footy season and our team, the Titans - who were doing so well all year - just got kicked out of the finals. We went to see one of their final games a week ago and I was yelling so much that I lost my voice!! It was well worth it though, even though we didn't win it was a great game. Can't wait till next year.

Finally, just to rub it in to all my friends who are heading into the colder weather - my DH and I headed down to the beach today. He had made breakfast and we picked up some coffee's and had breaky on the beach and then just laid out and soked up the sun. I couldn't think of a more perfect Sunday.

Till next time...........

What's New..........

A few weeks since my last blog and there has been alot going on. So here is the rundown:

I became an Aunty again on Friday May 30th. My brother and his wife had a beautiful baby boy which they eventually called Nicholas. He was known as 'the baby' for the first few days as they couldn't decided a name. He is absolutley adorable (and I am not just saying that because I am his Aunt), he has dark hair with blonde at the tips. His big brother and big sister just adore him too.

Last night my netball team won the Final's - yeah!!! It was a really good game and we all played really well. We won by about 7 or 8 points which was great too. We even got a trophy which was totally unexpected. I started playing netball this year just for fun and exercise so to win a final and get a trophy was really cool. I won't be playing this season as I am trying to commit myself to more classes at the gym.

My parents have gone on vacation for the next few weeks so my DH and I have the house to ourselves. My parents have gone to Thailand and will visit Phuket and Chiang Mai. They are having a great time there - even though my mum wasn't really excited about the trip until they got there. I cannot wait till I go on vacation in about two months time. I love the whole aspect of travelling -packing the luggage, flying, sightseeing, etc.

Well, I think that is all my exciting news for now. Apart from the above I have been spending lots of time with my sisters and brother and my neices and nephews.

Till next time................

Body Type?................ Peanut??

My DH and I have the body shape of a peanut - and we are so proud!!!!

My three-year-old neice drew a picture of my DH and I while she was at Kindy the other day. We look like two peanuts from a peanut family but I did not care about that. I was absolutley thrilled to know that she thinks of us while she is at Kindy.

Not to brag, but this kid is a spitting image of me when I was her age (absolutely gorgeous of course) and she is the daughter of my twin sister. She isn't the type of kid that will just run up to you and want a hug, she still takes time to warm up to me. Infact, I think she may still be a little freaked out at how much her mum and I look alike.

Anyways, to hear that she had drawn a picture for me and my DH just brought me to tears. I asked my sister if she was prompted to do this and apparently she wasn't. That was why I got all emotional about it - just the thought that she felt like drawing a picture of the two of us was an AWESOME feeling.

I got to spend time with her and my youngest neice yesterday too. It was wonderful to see these two girls playing so nicely together - more like sisters than cousins. My sister's could already see what they would be like in 15 years time - covering for each other to keep from getting in trouble.

It was nice hanging out with all the girls yesterday. I told my sister's we need to do this more often - just sit around, drink tea and chat.

Here is a picture of the peanut people for your enjoyment. I am the one on the right with the big hips!!

It was my oldest step-nephews 19th birthday the other day too. I cannot believe he is 19 already. I, of course, made him a card - he actually appreciates the hand-made cards.

I love being able to create and I put together this cute little card - I also got to buy some new paper too. Since leaving the scrapbooking industry I really haven't kept myself up-to-date as the supplies here are very expensive. I did find some cute new paper from American Crafts. I loved the colours on the paper and new I could mix and match it for either a male or female card.

As for new stamps - I cannot wait to see my friend Eleonor in Vancouver and visit the new stamp store she is working in. I am yet to find a stamp store here on the Gold Coast.

Here is a picture of the card I made.

Well, gotta go. I am cooking a lamb roast for dinner and better not burn it.

Till next time.............