Category: Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Thanks for the supportive comments

Anne S

Just a really quick post to say how much I’ve appreciated the cyberhugs and comments that have been left for me. I still don’t particularly feel like posting or blogging, so I’ll still be offline for a while longer. I’m not sleeping too well at the moment, and I’m on 6am shifts this week so that doesn’t help my mood at all.  I can’t even say that I’m stitching up a storm either, as I’m too exhausted most of the time to put a needle into fabric.

A couple of answers to questions about my car – unfortunately no I couldn’t pay in instalments, and they refused to give me a ballpark figure whatsoever before I flew to Perth … guess who won’t be going back to them?  It’s also not an option to sell at the moment, because I’d still need additional funds to ‘upgrade’ it, which I just don’t have.

One extra thing that is worrying me (probably unnecessarily) is that the real estate Manager (yep, the head honcho himself) came round to visit on Tuesday just before I picked my car up, and was very concerned about the building.  He started to say something about the works and stopped, and let’s just say I got the impression that I may not be permitted to stay in the building.  Anyway, I’ve since been online to the Tenants Union website, and been reading about Notices to Vacate … if the building is deemed inhabitable etc, then I could be served with an Immediate Notice to Vacate”, meaning I have to move out immediately … the alternative is a 60-day Notice to Vacate, and as far as I understand it the works will be taking place within 60 days.  I spoke to the Tenants Union on the phone yesterday and if I get served with an “immediate” notice then I can fight for an extension of say 14 days to make arrangements to move out, but basically there is no compensation made at all, even though you pay rent a month in advance and they are not longer providing you with a roof over your head that you’re essentially paying for.  The Union did say, though, that they would refund any rent already paid in advance … geez, that’s really comforting!  Anyway, let’s just say that’s preying on my mind a bit at the moment … I just hope like hell it doesn’t come to that … ‘cos at this stage I still don’t have another home to go to 😦

So, once again, please forgive me if I’m not online for a while longer – I may just mark all unread feeds as read soon too, as at the moment they’re about to hit the 1000 mark, and that’s depressing me all the more seeing that counter go up every day, and I just don’t have the mental energy to catch up at the moment.  In fact I don’t really feel like sitting here at the PC at all, so I know I really am not feeling fantastic 😉

I’m sure I’ll bounce back very soon … I just don’t see the point of sitting here whining online every day – it’s best for me to come back when I feel more positive and more like ‘my old self’ or I’ll start putting you all off reading my blog 😉

Thanks again for your continued support … I hope to see you again soon with a huge smile on my face 😀  {{hugs}}

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

My car is coming home

Anne S

I just had the phone call I’ve been waiting for, to say my car was finally fixed this morning … then he’s called me back to give me the awesome news about the actual bill. 

The repairs have come in at a tidy sum of just over $1,000 … quite frankly I’m in shock!!  To say I feel ‘less than perky’ would be the understatement of the year …  I burst into tears as soon as I hung up, and now I just feel physically sick. 

If stitching is good for relieving stress, then I should be stitching up a storm soon! Please accept my apologies if you don’t hear from me for a few days … I think I’m just going to go sit in a corner with my head in the sand for a while 😦

I suppose I should go put the final knife in and open the electricity bill that just arrived last Thursday too … might as well get it all over with in one hit.

I’ll be back again when I feel a bit perkier …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

The Weekend from Hell (part 1)

Anne S

Going by the title, you can guess the weekend didn’t quite go ‘as planned’ … but thankfully there is a exceptionally happy ending 😉  Mind you, after the news about my car problems, perhaps you could say the whole week didn’t go as planned, not just the weekend …

On Thursday night I managed to get 4 hours sleep before I had to be up to catch my taxi to St Kilda – the taxi arrived promptly at 5.45am, and we had a very short hop up the street to drop me off to the bus pick-up point.  At that time of the morning it was pitch black, and a bit discomfiting to be standing in the middle of the street, but I survived the ordeal.  After the time got to 6.25am (the pick-up time was supposed to be 6.10am), the bus finally sailed past the end of the street, but then didn’t come back again – I figured perhaps he had other pick-ups in St Kilda and will return to my stop.  By the time it was 6.50am I decided he definitely isn’t coming back, so I had no choice but to wave down a taxi and had to pay $55 for a cab fare to the airport – luckily I did it, though, as I arrived with just 10 minutes to spare before my flight!  When I called later and spoke to the bus company they said they’d look into it and call me back – 3 hours later I still hadn’t heard from them, so I turned into Miss Cranky Pants and called them back again … to find that apparently they hadn’t received the booking info until that afternoon (which I don’t believe, as she’d read back all my details when I first called in the morning hmmm).  Anyway, in essence I just told them their customer service is severely lacking, and asked for a full refund and I would just find my own way home – thankfully I’m getting the refund processed.

So, not an auspicious start to the weekend.  The flight itself was wonderful and uneventful, and on arrival in Perth I found a shuttle bus to take me to a bus station that would then take me to Victoria Park East  where I could kill some time browsing around Stitchers Corner LNS.  It turns out they took me to the wrong bus station, so I ended up having a bit of a tiki tour of Perth central, finishing at the Esplanade busport (as an aside I have now learnt that Perth drivers get very vacant looks and get upset when you call the busport a bus depot, and don’t ask for a “zone 1” ticket, because all you get are blank looks … one must ask correctly for a “1 zone ticket for the Esplanade busport” LOL).  Anyway, an hour later and I was finally on my way, lugging my suitcase behind me for good measure (geez I miss left luggage facilities), and I eventually I found Stitchers Corner where I managed to keep myself awake for a wee while longer while browsing the wonderful goodies.

The return back to Perth city was interesting again – asking the driver if he went to either Williams Street busport or Esplanade busport I was told “yes” … I then assumed that meant he goes to both (I wanted Williams Street) – but of course not!  We end up at Esplanade where he stops and stays … on enquiry I am curtly told Williams Street is NOT a busport it is a station … and no he doesn’t go there.  I got off the bus before I turned the air blue … Are you getting the drift of how my day was going?

I spent a short while walking around the central area of Perth, but I was too exhausted to go far while lugging my suitcase.  I ended up parking myself in a couple of different food outlets where I had a green curry lunch followed by banana split and cappuccino.  A bit of an odd combination, but it was yummy and helped to fill in some time.  I eventually caught up with my friend Hayley in the city after she finished work, and we wandered back to the Wentworth Hotel where I’d been told the shuttle bus returns from (I’d bought a return ticket that morning).  We arrived just as the shuttle was starting to pull away from the curb, and regardless of us waving he certainly wasn’t stopping … so we stood and waited for another hour before the next one finally arrived … and even though we put our arms out and waved to him to stop, he just waved back and sailed straight past … aaaarghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!  Another phone call to the bus company (this seemed to be the running theme for Friday) and I’m told you have to pre-book your return pick-ups … a fact that they neglected to mention.  As I said to the poor operator, do you think I would have stood here for over an hour waving at two separate buses if I’d known that … and no I can’t wait for another hour for the next bus to turn up, as I have to pick up a rental car in 1/2 hours time.  Let’s just say, I’m supposed to be getting another partial refund now … ho-hum.

So, it was back in another taxi again, and our driver was wonderful – he had a GPS system in his cab, and I’d never seen one in use before, so he showed us how it worked and gave us a demo so we could see it taking us to the airport – it was great!  Oh boy, how I want one of those things!!  And in hindsight I could really have used one over the weekend … which I’ll chat about next in a separate post, as it pertains to CA’s class.  After my eventful day, we opted to just get pizza in for tea and we sat and had a bottle of wine before hitting the hay for the night, ready for me to get up early to drive over the other side of town in the morning … and oh, what a drive and a half … 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

I’m going to Perth

Anne S

I have made my decision today after a good night’s sleep … whether or not I will live to regret that decision will only be known later, but otherwise I’ve wasted all that time and effort over the last two months, not to mention wasting my birthday/Christmas money that was used to pay for the kits, by not going.  I’ve actually got $1500 set aside in the bank account ready for when we find somewhere to move into (ie a month’s rent/bond in advance), so if necessary it just means holding off for a month for moving … but I’m just hoping it doesn’t come to that.  I’ll also put my name down for overtime every single day for the next month or so and hope at least a few days come through confirmed.

I’ve since found out there is an airport shuttle bus that leaves from St Kilda, that only costs $30 return, which is awesome – it’s hardly worth taking the car anyway for that price (even if I had it), especially as I’m only taking a small wheelie case for luggage.  It now means that today I need to take a couple of trains for a trip out to Surrey Hills so I can buy some 4mm ribbon ready for the class (I hadn’t been able to get there before now thanks to my shift times, then being in Sydney, and then of course having no car).  Unfortunately they don’t have any glass-topped pins or machine sewing threads, or I could get all my chores done at once … I think I’ll have to wait until my car comes back before I get them.

Well, no time to stay sitting around here … time to jump in the shower and head out for a walk to the train station, then come home and get my packing done.  I have to admit, I feel a bit better for finally making a decision … regardless of whether it’s the right one or not.  Now it’s time to set the whole lot in motion …

Blogroll, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, SBQ

SBQ & blogging in general

Anne S

Still no news on my car – I spoke to the mechanic while I was sitting at the train station on the way to work yesterday, and they’re still waiting on the new clutch pedal to arrive.  Apparently there was a cock-up at wherever they get their parts from … so still no idea when it will be fixed.  I still don’t have my airline tickets booked for Perth yet until I at least know what the bill is going to be.  By hook or by crook I’ll get myself to Perth for the class, as otherwise it’ll be such a waste of time and money, but I guess there’s only so much money in the bank, and if it reaches my limits then I’ll have no choice … at this stage, though, I’m still being hopeful.  

One of the problems in Perth, though, is that the friend I’m staying with has now moved, and lives out in Merriwa near South Geraldton, and the public transport options for getting to where the class is being held is appalling.  On Saturday alone the trip will take me (according to the Transperth trip planner) 2.51 hours … departing at 5.55am I would arrive at 8.46am, and the journey will have taken me on two trains, two buses, and included a walking distance of approx 2034 metres … bloody hell, I’m exhausted even just thinking about it!  And I daren’t even look at the Sunday schedules, as they’re usually worse.  So I’ve opted to hire a car instead, as even driving it will take me 1 1/4 hours according to the driving maps (and seeing as I’ll be on my own trying to follow the map, I’d better add on an extra 1/2 hour just in case) … of course that means an extra $120 expense without petrol costs, so one of the reasons I’m being cautious about booking my airline ticket yet until I know what money I’ve got leftover to play with.  Oh well, I’ve still got about 70 hours before the class starts … no need to panic! 😉

Anyway, on to the latest SBQ … Today’s SBQ was suggested by Heather and is:

“How do you decide which stitching blogs are worth repeat and/or regular viewings? Are there certain things you look for in particular? Are there things you wish there were more of? Less of? Is your blog a good example of what you like to read?”

As for deciding which blogs are worth repeat/regular viewing – piccies for me are probably first and foremost … I love to see stitching WIP’s and finishes, and piccies of stash bought – it’s definitely true to say a visually appealing blog makes me more likely to come back for more.  Then of course there has to be a good writing style to accompany the piccies – I like to read a mix of stitching stuff, with enough personal info that lets you get a glimpse into the blogger’s personal life and a feel for who you are as a person.  First and foremost it is the stitching content, though, that will grab me.  I suppose my own blog is a sort of example – I usually have a mix, although there hasn’t been too much in the way of stitching of late hmmm.

I have to say that it’s quite funny to have this question now, as it’s something I’ve been pondering myself over the last few weeks.  To be brutally honest I’m finding blogging to be a bit of a chore at the moment … I’m not entirely sure why, but I’m finding it difficult to both write my own blog and read other blogs at the moment, and wondering whether I need to take a small mini-break for a while.  One of the problems is that I have so many blogs on my reading list if I don’t check them daily the unread feeds just snowball out of control – even though I’ve been trying to read a few over the last week since my return from Sydney (and since Mum’s gone home), I still have over 500 unread feeds, and that starts to weigh on me a little bit, and makes it feel like a chore. But then again I don’t want to “mark all feeds as read” as I don’t like missing out on anything … it’s a catch-22 haha.  But the SBQ has made me consolidate my thoughts a wee bit, and I know a couple of blogging friends have been doing the same thing, in that I think I need to cull my reading list slightly.  There are some blogs I’ve been reading for a while that no longer, or rarely, have stitching content so I don’t get as much enjoyment from them as I used to.  It’s a difficult decision to make, as I don’t want to hurt any feelings in removing blogs from my blogroll, but I have to be aware there are only so many hours in a day, and there’s no point doing things out of a sense of duty if you no longer derive pleasure from the task.  What I’ll likely do instead is retain a list of all these blogs and make a once-a-month visit instead of trying to keep up-to-date with everyone together.

On that same theme, I’m also in the middle of rearranging my blogroll into folders – allocated as “daily”, then Monday to Sunday … we all have our favourite blogs (for whatever reason, be it that we’ve been reading them the longest, have made closer friendships with the blogger, or just that they’re so incredibly inspirational), so I thought of putting those top 10-15 blogs in my ‘daily’ folder … then I’ll divide the remaining blogs into days of the week, at least that way I can catch up on blogs once a week when I’m having a busy week, rather than having hundreds and hundreds to plough through – if I’m having a good week, I can read two days worth together.  I’ve been pondering this for quite a while now … and it’s harder and harder finding the time to keep on top of things as more new and wonderful blogs become known to me.  It also means I’m finding it more and more difficult to find time to comment on blogs, and that disappoints me because that’s the greatest part of blogging – giving and receiving support.

Anyway, I want to apologise in advance for anyone who gets removed from my blogroll when I start whittling it down – it’s certainly nothing personal, I just have to rationalise my online blogging time and try to make this enjoyable again.  Phew, that’s almost a relief saying it out loud and committing myself to actually doing something about it …

Actually, another thing I was thinking about the other day as well has just popped into my head … and while I’m on the theme of ‘blogs’ it’s probably a good time to bring up the question …

I use Newsgator for my blog reading, and just go into the blog itself when I want to make a comment.  A few of you have your blog settings to just show ‘partial’ feeds, so in my news reader I only get to see the first three lines of text, then I have to click on each post heading to read the full post … this really slows down proceedings as well, and I have to admit when I’m trying to catch up, I’ll leave those blogs until last because it’s so much slower to read – I was just wondering why some of you have your settings like that?  Anyway, that was just something that was running through my head … I have to admit I hadn’t even thought about my own settings, except I put my own blog into my feeds to see how it looks.

And I’ll leave it there for the day … there’s way too much thinking going on by this blog reader at the moment, and it’s hurting my brain 😉

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, SBQ

A couple of answers

Anne S

I just realised I hadn’t answered Heather’s previous query/comment about Kangaroo loin … yes, I have to say Kangaroo loin is just that … kangaroo meat!! It’s incredibly low in fat, and just like steak, best served medium-rare, and personally I think it’s very scrummy … if you want to read more about it check out this article here (I just found it via Google, and it’s quite interesting, especially as it has some recipes that I just might have to check out – mmmm note to self, add to bookmarks to check out later!).

Next up is last week’s SBQ … I should almost wait for another day or so as I’m sure the next one will turn up just as soon as I post this, but here goes:

Today’s SBQ was suggested Cindy and is:

“Do you have a system for organizing freebie charts in your stash? If so, what is it? Do you print out copies of all of the freebies that you find on the web (that you think you might actually stitch) or do you maintain electronic copies of them until you are ready to stitch them?”

I used to print off everything I could lay my hands on (that I could see myself stitching ‘one day’), place them into plastic sleeves, then into ringbinders sorted by theme … as space has eventually become an issue (especially moving countries when freight was an issue as well), I’ve now started saving electronic copies instead and just printing a chart off when I actually want to stitch it.  I have them organised in electronic folders also in themes.
 

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Bye-bye car…

Anne S

Today my car is getting towed to a local garage (it’s about a 30-40 minute walk from home … which is of course what I’ll be doing once the tow-truck drops my car off there today).  They can’t get it back to me before Easter, which means they’ll likely have my car for at least a week … guess I’d better start checking out public transport options for the next two nights and Easter Monday … oh heck, I also just realised I finish work at 5am Good Friday, which means I’ll have to wait forever for a train home as well (updated to add:  I’ve just checked and the first train leaves at 7.41am on Good Friday – and I haven’t even checked the connection at Richmond … oh boy, I hope I can get a lift home!!) … oh joy of joys! 😦  Maybe I’ll ask around at work tonight to see if anyone is coming from my side of town so I could get a lift … aside from anything else I don’t enjoy walking the streets alone at either of those times now daylight savings has ended, as I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark – and my home is about a 20 minute walk away from the station, down backstreets hmmm.

If nothing else, maybe I’ll get more stitching done while I’m waiting for trains – I need to do something to get my mojo back … before my work on Bordeaux yesterday, it’s actually been two whole weeks since I touched a needle, and I only did that because I knew I ‘had to’ for the Peacock needlecase.  I still look at my stitching corner and go ‘blah’ … which is totally unlike me … Perhaps it’s other things on my mind that keep distracting me, like knowing I should actually be sorting things out ready for packing up when I move (we’re still doing inspections and househunting the ads every week).  Anyway, I hope I can shake it soon, as there’s too much to be done!

Rightio, time to call a tow-truck then enjoy the walk home – if nothing else it will get me into a bit more exercise again, which I dearly need – and at least it’s not raining 😉  In fact I think I’ll have a small treat on the way home and sit and have a cappuccino at the Elwood shops on the way past … anything to make the day look a little brighter … 😀

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Travel

The big event (Sydney day 3)

Anne S

Thursday started nice and slowly with a small sleep-in.  I had a couple of ‘stupid’ moments, though, like when I realised I hadn’t brought any styling products for my hair, and I had to wash it, so just had to let it sit and dry naturally.  Then I thought I’d pop out to a hairdresser and get it styled for the evening, only to remember I didn’t have any keys to the house, so had no option but to sit still and relax.  I just spent the day reading until it was time to get ready for the function.  We had to be at the Hotel “ready to leave” no later than 4.45pm, so Brenda had to finish work at 2pm to have us ready to leave by 3pm – Nigel very kindly came home early as well and drove us into the city.  Here’s a photo of my beautiful hosts just before we left the house (jeez, I wish I could’ve done something with my hair!).


Me with Brenda


Me with Nigel

We managed to get to the Hotel at 4pm, so we checked in and took my bags up to the room, then went down to the bar for a vodka for Brenda and a bourbon for me (at the price of $17 for two drinks that’s where we finished LOL).  The Hotel we were staying at, compliments of work for the night, was the Four Points by Sheraton, Darling Harbour.  I’ve included a piccie here of the Hotel that I actually took on Friday, as it made more sense to include it here.


Four Points Sheraton at Darling Harbour

We all had to meet in the Lower Ground level of the lobby where we were given “boarding passes” and name badges.  Here I managed to meet up with the other two ladies from Melbourne that I work with, Mary and Carolyn, and Teresa that I used to work with in Auckland (it was so lovely to see her and here Auckland’s news).  We didn’t have to wait around for long before we were sent on our merry way in two groups for a short walk … down to the harbour.  At this point I was getting a bit disgruntled and jittery – I get seasick, and I’ve been hoping like heck we weren’t going on a cruise, but unfortunately those hopes were dashed!  I’d packed my Sea-Bands ‘just in case’ and popped them on, but that basically meant that I wouldn’t be drinking or eating on board, which put a real damper on the evening for me … the boat started rocking a bit while we were moored, at which point I figured it would be better to get off until we were ready to actually move, so I asked a crew member if I could leave – and he kindly brought me out some homeopathic travel sickness tablets (ginger-based) that wouldn’t affect me and meant I could have a drink etc … that went a BIG way to putting me at ease!  I’m usually OK on boats for about 1/2 hour (which I why I felt OK to try the ferry the previous day), but after that I’m laying ground bait …

As it turns out we were on board that vessel for some considerable time – we had one of the chief managers of the company with us and we each had to go up to to the front and receive a framed certificate from him and have our photo taken together.  There were even people from as far away as our London and Tuscon offices – I thought that was wonderful.  Brenda mentioned to me during the night that “this really is a big thing that you’ve won, isn’t it?”, and I probably had to agree that I guess it was – the whole event made me realise just how big it was.  Out of 7000 nominations, I was one of the 200 around the world who won … wow! 🙂

Anyway, back to the story … we cruised up the river for a couple of hours, and in fact almost made it as far as I had the day before when I travelled to Rydalmere – eventually, though, we got off the boat at Homebush.  We were then bundled into coaches and taken a short distance up the road to our final resting place for the night – Acer Arena at Sydney Olympic Park.  Here we were ushered to a lobby area where there was a band playing and yet more alcohol being offered (boy, oh boy, they certainly didn’t skimp on providing refreshments!).  We stood there for a while chatting, then all of a sudden curtains were pulled back just behind where we were standing, and the doors were opened into the stadium itself – it was like we were Olympic athletes flowing into the stadium … and when we walked in it looked like something from a fairy tale!  Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of it all, and the photos in general from now on are a bit crappy due to the poor lighting, my poor camera, and being a fair distance away from the stage etc.  But take my word for it, it was magical!  We were seated in the middle of the arena itself, with formal dining set ups, and a stage with two large screens on each side.


Sydney Olympic Park – Acer Stadium


Brenda and I inside the Stadium about to sit down for dinner

Unfortunately we were all split up at different tables, as they’d already given seating allocations … at each place setting for the winners, though, they’d put a book together as a momento – inside it includes a photo and blurb about each of the winners and what they did to win the award, plus a copy of the menu, and the entertainment schedule for the evening etc.  It was a great touch, and made the evening even more special … although those special touches just kept on coming!

After everyone was seated at their tables and introduced themselves music started in the background then eventually it changed … the lights dimmed and then a spotlight went onto three members of the Australian Girls Choir on stage, who started to sing “I Still Call Australia Home” … then a line or two in spotlights moved to our side of the stadium where a line-up of more girls appeared at the top of part of the stadium seating, then the same happened on the other side of the stadium.  I have to admit it brought a lump to my throat and goosebumps to my arms … that to me was one of the major highlights of the evening.  I’d rather not say in print what the significance of having them there singing that meant … but I’m sure at least the Aussies will know why that’s important 😉


Part of the Australian Girls Choir singing at the top of the stadium

That, though, was just the start of all the entertainment!  We had speeches from top management, and I have to say they really made me feel proud to be sitting there.  They also put together a video set to music of all the photos they took of us onboard the boats receiving our awards from management – it was great.  During the evening we munched our way through the various courses – the menu was (sorry, but no stone is being unturned in this post haha):

 Entree
Salad of chicken breast with sweet potato, cucumber and semi sun-dried tomatoes, tossed with spring leaves and a lime and sweet chilli dressing
or
Goat’s cheese and semi sun-dried tomato tart with Italian antipasto salad

Main Course
Marinated rack of lamb with seeded mustard potatoes, vegetable bundle and balsamic vinegar jus
or
Pan-fried Atlantic salmon fillet with potato gateau and fresh herb hollandaise

Dessert
A trio of desserts:
Lemon tart, chocolate charlotte and assorted desserts served in a shot glass
or
Triple layered chocolate black forest, white swan mousse and assorted desserts served in a shot glass

Tea/coffee … followed by port

During the entrees we had an Aerialist perform, hanging from two strips of ‘fabric’ from the frame surrounding the arena area … that was a bit ho-hum, but the next lot of entertainment blew me away … next up we had, of all people, the infamous Toni Collette and her band performing live for us – wow!!  She performed about six songs for us.


Toni Collette singing

The next, and final, act was someone I’d never heard of, as I’m not a jazz officianado … but now I’ll remember his name as he was the best entertainer of the evening!  It was James Morrison and his band, along with Emma Pask on vocals … all I can say is “wowzers!!!”.  That guy can really PLAY!  He’s also a really fun entertainer and showman – just exceptional!  And what a way to finish the night off!!


James Morrison and his trombone (shocking photo sorry)

Eventually the night came to an end – to say this was a memorable event in my working history for the company would be an understatement … I for one really appreciate all the work and effort that went into such a successful evening, and I’m extremely grateful I was able to attend.  We finished the evening by being taken by bus back to the Hotel again (here, though, I said goodbye to Brenda, as Olympic Park was closer to home than the city, so Nigel came to pick her up from the venue).  It was sad to say goodbye to Brenda, but we’ve agreed I really do have to make the trip more often, finances willing.

When I returned to my hotel room, though, there was another surprise waiting – they’d taken the framed certificates off us again on the boat so we didn’t have to think about losing or breaking them during the night, and they said they’d be waiting for us in our rooms … that they were, BUT they weren’t alone!  There were two black boxes sitting on the bed – when I opened one up there was the certificate tucked in under a couple of straps in the lid, and sitting in the base was a bottle of wine, a pair of the pyjamas designed by Morrissey that people get in First Class, as well as the little First Class amenity pack.  My jaw nearly hit the floor!  What an awesome way to finish off an already perfect night!! 😀

Now I can explain why it was a good thing I bought another ‘wheelie case’ two days earlier … while I loved the gifts etc, they were quite large, and weighed a ton (the box itself is really really heavy!) … and of course because Brenda didn’t stay at the Hotel I ended up with two boxes, with the quandary “how the hell am I going to get them home?”.  In the morning I did some major rejiggling with the suitcase and managed to get one box in the bottom of there, then I asked the airline staff to let me take the 2nd one on board with me (the one with the certificate) – as it turned out it wasn’t an issue, as I managed to get business class home again, and you’re allowed two pieces of carry-on bags anyway … phew!  I almost dumped the second box, but then decided against it, as I figure it will make a lovely storage case for some stitching supplies, or other crafting supplies 😉

So, all-in-all it was a wonderful, wonderful experience that I’m extremely grateful for.  Mind you, by the time lunchtime rolled around the next day, I probably wasn’t quite as grateful for having the Chardonnay flowing so freely as I do have to admit to feeling ever so slightly seedy haha.

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Travel

I’m back and feeling refreshed! (day 1)

Anne S

I’ve decided a mini-break is most definitely good for the soul … especially when you spend it with friends that you’ve known for a squillion years (I’ve known Nigel for about 30 years, and Brenda for about 14).  I’m definitely going to have to do that more often – and as well as that I played tourist on my own for a bit, which I haven’t done in a very long time, and it felt really good 🙂  There are a fair few photos I’d like to share, so I might split it up into a couple of posts … I’ll document it all in chronological order, so it makes more sense to me more than anything else …

My trip to Sydney started off quite eventful – I had my little ‘overnight wheelie case’ packed in good time and ready to walk out the door at the planned time, until I flipped over the top of the case to zip it closed … only to find the zip hanging off!  A slight panic ensued as I struggled to find another bag that would suit … finally I found a soft-sided bag that has back-pack straps hidden away, and everything fit in it nicely … not a great start to the trip, though!

I arrived at the airport, after leaving my car in long-term parking, just in time for check-in and wandered through to the gate.  My company were very kind to send lounge passes to make the trip more memorable, and gave me a ticket that was able to be upgraded to business class if there were no paying customers wanting the seat – it was a wonderful way to start being spoilt.  (You may/may not recall that the reason for this trip to Sydney was for the service award presentations to eXcel winners from all over the company, and we were being flown in for a big gala event in our honour, so we got spoilt from start to finish.)

The flight to Sydney was pleasant and smooth, and when I got there I went straight to the train lines to journey into West Ryde, near where Brenda works so she could pick me up and drive us home from there.  When I arrived I had 1 1/2 hours to kill so I just went for a wander and eventually found a shopping mall with a Gloria Jeans coffee shop … I plonked myself down and stuck my nose in my Jeffery Deaver book (The Empty Chair – great book!) with a coffee or two and waited.

I hardly recognised Brenda when she arrived – she’d had her hair cut off short and lightened, and has lost about 30kg … she looks amazing!  She hasn’t changed inside though, and is still the same Brenda we all know and love – she’s so bubbly, and so much fun to be around … it was wonderful to see her again.  When we got home I got mauled by the over-friendly border collie Dusty, and snubbed by the two cats (although we were the best of pals by the time 24 hours had rolled on by … especially with Obi who is totally schizo and normally has nothing to do with people).

We didn’t have to wait too long before Nigel got home from work, and there were more hugs all round … then we did a quick change of clothes before heading off for a short walk to dinner – they have an “Outback Steakhouse” just up the road from them, so we went and troughed out after Brenda and I slugged back a frozen Margarita each 😉  It was a wonderful night – there’s something to be said about hanging out with people that have known you for so many years … there’s a level of comfort that is so refreshing, as you know they already love you and accept you warts and all, and there are so many stories and memories that you share, it’s such an awesome feeling.

We spent the rest of the night watching TV and chatting, then we hit the hay for the night as we had to be up early.  Brenda was going to run me up to the ferry terminal before work, so we had an early start.  I had the earliest start of all, however … I opted against taking my separate alarm clock with me and thought I’d just use my mobile phone … hmmm, dopey me forgot that daylight saving had changed, and I’d forgotten to reset the time on my mobile phone clock – it was amazingly quiet in the house when I got up to have my shower and get dressed to start the day … and has a lot to do with the fact I was actually up at 5.30am!!  What a blonde!!!  Gave us a laugh for the day, though, and I’m happy to say my mobile clock has now been updated! 😉

I’ll continue the story in a new post, as there are some piccies coming.

Gifts TO BE FIXED, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

It’s all about me …

Anne S

Today has been a day of doing stuff just for “me”, and I’ve absolutely loved it!  I know this has all been generated by having this evening function to go to, but I was thinking today that I really should do this sort of thing more often, because it makes you feel fantastic!!

I started the day off with a drive into the suburb where I work (which meant those RAK parcels are also now on their way, as I dropped into the PO Box first), and spent 4 hours in the hairdressers getting a cut and colour done.  I have to admit I was a bit worried when the colourist turned out to be just learning, but between her and Sam (the guy who did the cutting and styling) they did a fantastic job, and I feel wonderful! 😀

When I had my financial woes before Christmas, I couldn’t afford to get my hair cut for a few months, then in January I tried to book in only to find my stylist had left the salon.  Since then I just haven’t had the impetus to find somewhere new … until now (I can’t believe it’s been almost 6 months since my last cut!!).  My hair is now styled a tiny bit differently in that I no longer have the short fringe (it grew out due to not having a regular cut, then a compliment from a girl at work made me decide to try it out that way for a while) … and there’s a lot more blonde in it than I originally had (I can see Mum cringeing all the way from there! LOL) – and I truly love it!  I’ve kept the length in the back, but it’s more shaped in the sides around my face and has more layers … I wish I could get a photo of it for you Mum, but you’ll just have to take my word for it that it’s nice 🙂 

Another great part of this is that during that 4 hours I also managed to get some serious reading in for a change – I took in The Empty Chair by Jeffery Deaver, and managed to get up to page 226, which is not bad going considering the book only has 594 pages, so I almost got halfway through in one sitting … geez it felt good to have the time to read – I usually feel guilty if I’m not stitching at home (which is why I use books on tape so I can do both), and it feels particularly fantastic to have a book in hand again … just a bit more added bliss for the day 😉

From there I went to the local lingerie shop where I was holding a shop credit for some PJ’s I’d bought and returned last year – and bought a pair of black bras by Playtex … something I was getting quite desperate for, as I haven’t bought new bras for, dare I say it, about 5 years.  The extra great news was that they cost exactly the same as my PJ’s so I had absolutely no outlay whatsoever yippee!

Then lucky last I called into Strand Bags where I found a reasonably ‘OK’ smaller handbag that will hold my small digital camera, and a small purse and mobile phone for the evening … on sale at a very expensive $6.99 – I nearly cracked up when she told me the price, as I was quite thrilled with the $14.99 price tag that was originally on it … $6.99 was a steal!!  I also found some jewellery that was lovely, but I don’t see the point of paying $90 for a necklace when I probably won’t wear it that much, so I left it in the shop, along with the $189 black wrap I loved … instead I’ll see if I have time tonight to think about putting something together myself.  If not, I’m happy with the plain gold jewellery I wear every day (ie just a plain gold chain I got as my farewell gift from work in Auckland, and a gold ankh I bought in Egypt), as well as Mum’s gold chain bracelet she gave me last year.

I can’t take a photo of me wearing the outfit, but here’s what my new top and shoes look like.  I’ll be wearing plain black pants with it.

That would a wonderful day in itself today, but the threads arrived that have been on back order from Karen at Dragonfly Dreams, as well as Mum’s aida we ordered for her.  The infamous Rainbow Gallery thread I’m waiting for to start the Laura J Perin canvaswork piece is still AWOL, though … I think they now hold the longest record for the back order of items, as I think it’s almost 9 months since we ordered it from RG.  I haven’t stressed about it at all, though, as Karen has continued to keep me informed along the way, and that’s the key to great customer service … communication! 😀

The other thing that is wonderful is that my ducks came home to roost from Vash – along with a pack of cards and fridge magnet from Cornwall.  Thanks again Vash for getting them finished – and thanks also to Wendy and Lynn for their work on this beautiful piece, it will be treasured for years to come and will be one of the first things I get framed this year! 😀

Lucky last, thanks also to Vee, who surprised me totally by a Random Act of Kindness … I have been stunned by the generosity and love shown by my fellow bloggers, and this gift from Vee is no exception – she sent the most wonderful packet of White Hot Chocolate with marshmallows (a little mini-kit, how cool is that?? – I can’t wait to devour it!), along with a fusible letter “A” that I’m conjuring up wonderful uses for … not to mention a pile of scrummy blue threads – how gorgeous is that little bundle of blue goodness?  Totally scrummy, everything!  Thanks again Vee for truly bringing some joy into a crappy week!  It actually arrived on Friday morning, but I forgot to post about it until today (my mind was pre-occupied with Mum’s farewell).

Well, that’ll just about do me for today – I think I’ve waffled on quite sufficiently for now … see you again in a week’s time, after which I’ll hopefully have some Sydney tourist photos to show, even if there’s no stitching 😉  Now I’m off to start packing … my least favourite part of any holiday, except maybe for the UNpacking ;P