Happy New Year!

I'm not sure where 2013 went, but I am glad to see it put to rest.  Bring on 2014 with plenty of changes, growth, and happiness.  I thought a bit of Spock would be a nice :)  LOL  I have been a Trekkie for as long as I can remember.

Since my last post I have been working three jobs, and this month I am hoping that will cut back to mostly one.  Maybe my spare minutes will begin to multiply :)  After work tomorrow I hope to put together my first counterfeit kit of the year and get back into the swing of things.  As I am months behind on my blog reading, I have decided the best way to cope with that is to mark all of them as read, and start the new year off fresh.

May 2014 be a blessed year for you all!

Happy New Year,
Chipper

Blog Therapy

I find writing blog posts wonderful therapy. "What posts?" I hear you saying.  Well ... I just haven't published them, but I have written many in the past few months.  All straight from my heart, drafted and re-drafted in my head late at night, and then released ... it is often like a weight lifted off one's shoulders.

Have you ever heard of the Stress Test?  It is a list of questions that you answer yes/no to about life events in the previous 12 months.  I have seen them around in the past and was recently exposed to them once again.  There is an online version of one HERE.

For this version of the test less than 150 is minor stress, 150-199 is mild stress, 200-299 is moderate stress, and over 300 is major stress.  In today's fast paced life I would say that many of us live with moderate stress on a daily basis.  We learn to cope and adapt until it feels 'normal'.  I took this particular test today and scored 859.

Most of us write blog posts about the happy stuff in our lives, we don't feel comfortable sharing the bad.  But what do you do when all you see is everyone's happiness and you can find so little of it yourself?  I write and create.  I haven't done much paper crafting recently, but I have written reams!  And pushed on by a friend I took up a new hobby, one without memories attached.  I am learning to crochet!

Here is my very first attempt at a granny square ...

It is a bit wonky and imperfect but I was very proud that I had finally managed to grasp the concept after some personalised tutoring!

My second attempt is a little better, but I am soooooooo slow!

I have even managed to change colour ...

And now I am working on a blanket made with these colours.  The center two colours will reverse in different blocks ...

The Princess and I went on an 'Op Shop Hop' (charity shop shopping!) looking for cheap yarn.  We found a nice collection including pure wool, along with this book (a bargain at only 50c).

The best way to consolidate your new knowledge is to teach and I have been passing on my new skill to The Princess.  She is faster than me, but not as determined to master it.  There are thousands of free on-line patterns and I am afraid that I have started to be a collector and not a do-er (much like paper crafts can be!) but I am determined to NOT let that happen.  I have some ideas for Christmas presents that I could crochet and I am going to give some a try.  Even if I only manage to finish one, I will call it successful!

Best wishes to all and I think that I am ready to re-enter the blog community.  I love the two way connection and have missed it recently.  You may just see me around more often :)

Chipper

And the river of life takes another turn ...

“Have you time for a chat now?” he asked.

“Sure” she replied. 

“I’ll just close the door as the walls around here have ears.”

“So I’ve noticed.” she stated nervously, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

“The only way to say this is to just be blunt and get it over with.” He looked straight at her with only a hint of apology. “We need to terminate your contract.”

There … it was said … it was done. She wasn’t surprised and he knew.

“You were expecting this weren't you?” he asked. “I saw it in your eyes at the meeting yesterday. I searched the other faces to see if they had guessed, but it was only you.”

“I could tell. The numbers aren’t on the board and with four closing that means that there isn’t room for me. I understand your position as I’ve been in it before.”

“This is the first time I have ever had this conversation and not wanted to. I have told everyone else that the business isn’t for them. I am happy to give you a reference and maybe you will find employment elsewhere. Or you could wait, if you can, and when more open in 6-12 months we could hire you back.”

“So where do we go from here?” she asked, knowing that she still had work to complete, and struggling to make her thoughts focus.

“You can finish what you are working on and you will still be paid on anything that goes through. You can work this weekend if you have things to finalise and then your contract will officially terminate at the end of the month. That gives you time to finish things up but there is no need to come to meetings.”

She left the office and continued to finish the drawings she was working on. Hours later the tears were finally winning the struggle. It was time to go home and let them fall. Work would still be there later that evening. She packed her bags and said goodbye to her oblivious co-workers. The tears began the minute the car started.

Happy 4th of July!

Today is Independence Day and I almost missed it!  I was looking at the calendar this morning to see what the date would be next Wednesday when I saw the date today and couldn't believe it had snuck up on me.  I have many happy memories and stories from the 4th of July but hardly any photos as my mom didn't own a camera.

Here I am when we lived in Montana.  I am standing in front of my Grandma and Aunt's coffee house after the parade.

Me!

 And a few photos from the parade we just watched.  We lived in a small town :)

We lived in a town on the railway line

More of the parade

When we moved back to Australia Mom and Grandma continued to celebrate with us each year.  Grandma would round up a few stray Americans and have them over and we would eat yummy American food.  One year the local Consulate put on a huge picnic.  We went and ate hotdogs and they had brought over Root Beer and Dr Pepper!  There were clowns, stilts and big parachutes to play with, along with live music and all sorts of other entertainment.  We had so much fun and the Root Beer was definitely a highlight of my brother's and my day as we missed that!  It was cold and rainy and nothing like celebrating in summer.  It is a shame that they can't do that anymore for security reasons.

When we eventually bought a house the The LOML and I would have all of our friends around for a big (winter) BBQ.  I would make tamale pie, ribs, chilli and apple pies to go with all of our other favourties.  It was always a hit and I still have a few friends who send me a message every year on the 4th of July.

Once we moved to Ireland we didn't celebrate it with as many people but we still had a yummy dinner all by ourselves with sparklers.  In 2008 we were in Florida for the 4th of July and we were treated to two fireworks shows.  Disney Hollywood Studios do a special fireworks performance each year just for Independence Day and that year it was on the 3rd.  We then went to the Magic Kingdom for their special fireworks on the 4th of July (it actually runs for a whole week in that park).  I would have liked to have gone up to my Grandpa's and seen their parade and had a picnic but the kids really wanted to see the fireworks and at the time I thought we would get another chance a few years later (little did I know just how much life would change!).

Special Fireworks at Disney Hollywood Studios

I love the flag projected onto the castle.  Red, white, and blue featured quite prominently in the fireworks :) (Gee, I wonder why? LOL)

Magic Kingdom 4th July

This year we are having a family dinner with just us.  It is nice that my kids get into the spirit of it just for me.  I love them so much!

Wherever you are in the world, even if you aren't celebrating, I hope you have a wonderful day with your family.  We were at work and the boys were at school but it really isn't the day that matters, but the family you spend time with.

Happy 4th of July my friends!

Chipper

Arcade Games - Photo Heavy

The Princess has been busy at school working on an in-class project.  The only thing we had to do at home was find LOTS of cardboard boxes in various sizes.  For 'Technology & Enterprise' they had to design a working arcade/fair style game that could be made from cardboard.  They had to then make their games and use them to raise money for charity.   They paired up and made posters ...

Poster advertising the event

Each child who wants to play buys a 'Fun Pass' for $2 that gives them access to all of the games.  Each year group (about 60 kids) comes at one time and each child spends 5 min at a game before rotating to the next (they only get to try out twelve games).  Each game earns points depending on how well they do.  They then trade the points for prizes, such as an in-school movie session or a special lunch.  It will take most of next week to get through all of the kids while still getting some school work done!

They had to plan their designs ...

Planning sheet

Then they started building.  This was The Princess' partly constructed game after one day of building.  I have never seen a classroom so filled with cardboard.  I couldn't get a room photo without lots of kids or I would show you the organised chaos!  This morning I went in to class to assist with the final part of construction and decorating.

Slowly taking shape

Then they all painted and decorated ...

It had to be PINK!

In the afternoon all of the parents were invited to come back and be the first to try out the games.  Here is the finished arcade game inspired by the clowns with the turning head that you find at fairs.  Am I quite impressed as The Princess has only twice played Arcade Games.  The clowns obviously left an impression as they were her favourite game to play the last time we went to our local fair/show.

The Surprise Box

They are all very official and have staff lanyards ...

The Princess

If you want to see how it works we videoed our first try of the game.  It was very hard to video and play at the same time (while kneeling on the ground!) and at the very end my phone memory was full and it stopped suddenly!  But if you have the time it might make more sense if you see it in action ...

There were some very clever games in the Arcade.  It was packed full of people this afternoon so here are just a few ...

This fist one are sponge crocodiles that pop in and out.  The object of the game is to hit them as many times as you can with a sponge sword.  Plenty of exercise in this one!

Croc Snap

This is a very elaborate pin-ball machine!

Pin ball

The owner of this one spent ages decorating the box!

The Hungry Horsey

This one took far more hand-eye co-ordination than I have.  I wouldn't be able to get it in all three hoops!

The 3 Hoopsters

This Skeeball madness was lots of fun.  You roll a tennis ball up the ramp and try to get it into the holes.  You have to see how many rolls it takes you to get to 500.  I reached 510 after 12 rolls.

Skeeball Fun

I don't remember making anything quite so much fun when I was at school :-) But perhaps my memory has fade a little ...

Chipper

Latest News

I have started many posts in the past few weeks but none seemed right, so I am going to update you all.  A few weeks ago we finished up closing down our shop.  I thought I had distanced myself emotionally from when I started my new job, but it seems I was only fooling myself.  I am physically and emotionally drained (especially from hurtful comments by customers) and only now finding a new routine.

Here we are finishing things up ...

I am thankful for ...

my family

my friends

a roof over our heads

a lovely commercial landlord

my job

and the future.

After we handed the keys back we celebrated with the kids :-)

Onwards and upwards,

Chipper

My new craft digs ...

Back in December we moved house and have bought a big house with my mom & her husband.  The plan is to renovate and give them a 'granny flat' (or apartment as they are calling it) and the rest of the house is ours.  The plans for how to do this have changed about as many times as you could possibly imagine and so I am only just now finalising my craft room.  The room is the size of a nice single bedroom with a built in double sliding door closet.  The previous owner sewed and so the closet was fitted out with lots of shelves.

I started by sharing this room with my mom, then she moved her stuff and I had room for two tables (one for sewing), but then the kids lost their gaming spot and so we re-organised once again and now I have one table and they have two chairs :-)  I like to face the door so this is my craft space facing the closet and the doorway ...

This is the wall as you enter on the right, you can just see the desk on the left.  My machines were spread out on the chest but now half has a TV and a game station.  The bonus is I now have the TV back in my craft room :-)

Here is half of the closet ... It is kinda full and needs a serious de-clutter!  This is the first time in about 6 years that all of it has been unpacked so it is definitely time for a serious sort out ... now to just find the time ...

I started a new job on the 3rd of January.  I sell houses for a local builder.  After having lived in a few different countries I know that building and buying houses differs greatly from place to place so here is a brief run down of the way it works here if you are buying a new house.

Land Agents/Developers divide up land into blocks for people to buy.  They put in the roads and main connections to each block.  The buyer comes along and chooses their block and purchases it.  Now you have to find a house to build on it.  Most new land estates have 'display homes' on them (a collection of a few homes is called a 'display village').  These are sample houses designed by different builders.  Here is the one I am based in ...

The display is open at certain times but I can actually sell people any home that my company builds (not all are made into display homes).  Once you have chosen your home you can take the plans and re-draw parts and then you enter into a contract to have it built.  You choose all your fittings, colours, and bits and the house is built as you want it.  There are LOTS of builders to choose from.  The largest display village at the moment has over 30 builders in it.  These display houses are eventually sold as house plans change and are kept fresh and new.

So I talk with clients, help them change their house plans to suit their needs and wants, and then I get them to sign on the dotted line.  I am really enjoying it!  Here is the link to the details of the house pictured above if you are interested.  It is very rare for two houses to look alike as people choose different bricks, paint, tiles, paving, and elevations.  Even if two were built side by side you probably wouldn't notice.

So if I am not crafting I am re-designing houses ... sorta the same thing ... kinda ... maybe :D

Chipper

Closing off 2012

I completely forgot about Storytelling Sunday for December.  The weeks just turned into a blur of packing, painting, gardening, more painting, moving, unpacking, job interviews, and work!

We have bought a house with my mom (and her husband) and we are no longer renting!!!!  No more horrid rent inspections!!!!!  Here we are the day we got the keys to the new place ...

It just so happened to be the day before Thanksgiving and so we spent Thanksgiving cleaning and prepping the new house for painting.  It was the FIRST time in my memory that we didn't have Thanksgiving dinner with family and/or friends!  Everyone in the family was topsy turvy with moving and packing and work so we decided to not have the big meal.  I thought I was ok with it until the day arrived and I had to try not to cry.  It has always been my favourite holiday as it was the only one that my parents didn't fight over as my dad is Australian.  My Grandma always made the day so special even though we had to go to school during the day.  The dinner she made was spectacular and she would have rounded up all the stray Americans in town and invited them to dinner.  No year was ever the same :-)

For the first time EVER it was just the five of us.  Dirty and dishevelled from cleaning (you would not believe the sate the previous owners left the house in!), we sent the boys down the road to the local fish and chip store for our Thanksgiving Dinner.

It was exceptional fish and chips!

It will go down in our family as a good story to tell.  I think next year we will have a HUGE dinner with all our family and friends to make up for it!  We didn't even have plates or utensils ... just the paper it came wrapped in and our fingers :)  They do make great fish and chips and it was VERY delicious.

We are now all unpacked and have had our first Christmas in our new house ... all seven of us :-)  I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and have really enjoyed this year with you through all of life's ups and downs.  Here are the three kids about to open the present Santa left.  This year it was one big family present and it turned out to be a dart board for the new games room.  Santa also brought them all strawberry plants and a box of Lucky Charms (cereal) which they are currently rationing (he brought it one year before as it is a cereal I loved as a kid each time we visited the US and it is extremely unhealthy!)  As it is $12 a box here at the specialty store it is definitely a once a year treat!

New Year is fast approaching and I think we all deserve a terrific 2013!  One of my goals this year is to finish losing my extra minutes ...

Saw this and absolutely LOVED it!

I start a new job on the 3rd of January selling new homes for a local building company.  It is all commission based and hopefully we will be earning money in the near future :)  Lots of changes and lots of excitement.  I have a craft room in our new home and I am trying to finish unpacking and sorting it so I can use it!  Another goal for 2013 is to make up kits using my own stash and craft MORE!  I am also part way through a 50's inspired dress that I would like to finish.  I would also REALLY, REALLY like to find the time to do THIS online class and make the Lilly Rose Dress plus learn all the altering techniques.

See you on the other side of the New Year,
Love Chipper

Catch up :) (photo heavy)

I had so much planned to post over the past few weeks, including details of the BEST DAY of the YEAR!  So here goes all be it a bit late ... :-)

While my previous posts about Hiro were auto posting The LOML and I went away for the weekend.  I had made wedding invitations as a friend for a gift last year and they bought us a voucher for a weekend away as a thank you.  They also offered to babysit the kids too!  It has been three years since we went away together so we were very excited.  Thankfully the place we stayed was only an hours drive from home and we set off on Friday evening after work.  It was right on the harbour in a very pretty holiday/vacation town.  So we did touristy things and ate until we needed to be rolled back to the hotel.  We even went to a place with a miniature village, mini golf and a maze!  The weather was perfect and it was so relaxing and wonderful.

Our view from breakfast :-)

The miniature village

Me after we arrived at the miniature village

Entering the maze ...

Will he find his way out???

Devonshire Tea anyone???

Looking out over the ocean before dinner

Those photos were just from Saturday!!!  But so you see the dreary dusk sky?  Well Sunday was stormy, rainy and awful!  So we decided to drive home after we checked out of the hotel.  We couldn't have asked for a better day on Saturday and we enjoyed getting home early to spend some time with the kids.  They were spoilt too all weekend.

Midway through the month it was my BIRTHDAY!!!!  So of course that means that it is the best day of the year in my book!  I love birthdays.  It's not just about the presents, but that it is a day special for each person where they should be treated like a princess (or prince).  My order for breakfast was poached eggs on toast - YUM YUM!!!!  I was supposed to have the day of work crafting with a friend, but we had only just sat down to start when I got a call from The LOML to say that I needed to come to work straight away as he wasn't well.  Thankfully he didn't need to go to the hospital again and we were able to come home after lunch.  He improved over the afternoon and he instructed the kids on the preparation of my special dinner.  I had requested crumbed steak, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and gravy.  And it was YUM YUM YUM!!!!!!

I chose not to have a cake this year as I really craved warm brownies with vanilla ice cream and Hershey's chocolate syrup.  While the brownies were cooking I made The LOML call the health line to confirm that a trip to the ER wasn't warranted as he had a Dr appointment two days later.  He tried very hard to act like nothing was wrong as it was my birthday, but that just made me more worried.  So better late than never we enjoyed our brownies.  They were also YUM YUM YUM!!!

In the end I chose frosting and not Hershey's syrup :)

For my birthday I got a Sizzix Eclips (spoilt aren't I??) and some Tim Holtz background stamps.  I also got something a bit unusual from my mom that I had asked her for ... an Ikea kitchen wall cabinet.  I will have to show you later what that is for :-)  I am giddy with excitement and I just hope it works!  No, I am SURE it will work ... but you will just have to wait.

The LOML hasn't been able to drive since our weekend away.  He was constantly unsteady on his feet and light headed.  The Dr was increased his new medication from his last visit to the hospital and he was getting worse, so without telling me, he went off the medication.  Within two days he felt better!  He went back to the Dr and now he is almost back to himself.  It is crazy, but it seems that he had a delayed reaction to the medication.  As it built up in his body it was getting worse.  I was starting to get very worried and all of it was caused by a nasty tablet!  I hope that it is now the end of it and he stays better this time.  It was all very worrying and has made for a busy and chaotic month.  Hopefully he is cleared to drive again really soon as he makes a TERRIBLE passenger!

All in all I think we are headed into a pleasant September :-)  The Extrovert turns 15!!! Oh my!!! I suddenly feel old :-)  If I don't see you before, I will be back for Storytelling Sunday this Sunday. Pop back then for all the details and enjoy a story or two.

Chipper

Sadly there hasn't been any crafting here ...

The last week of the kids school holidays and The Princess and I weren't able to craft together.  That hasn't stopped The Princess from squeezing in some crafting fun, but none for me.  The LOML had a wisdom tooth removed on Wednesday and it didn't come out as easily as hoped.  He is finally getting up and about today and with one thing and another he has been out of action for most of the month.  I was only home one evening this week as each night had its own set of errands that had to get sorted.  I don't know how single parents do it every day.  I am exhausted!!!  It probably doesn't help that I had to do the work of two at the shop either :-)  But the kids are ready for a new school term AND we are ready for our guest to arrive on Tuesday.

A little while ago we agreed to host a Japanese exchange student.  He arrives on Tuesday and is with us for 10 days.  While we are all looking forward to it (and have just finished re-arranging The Extrovert's bedroom to fit a second mattress) I am very happy that it is only for 10 days.  I don't think I could cope if it was much longer after the past month.  The Extrovert learns Japanese at school and he is hoping to be chosen to go on exchange next year.  This will provide him with a great opportunity to get in some practise with a native speaker.  Hiroyuki said that he only speaks a little English in his email to us last week and I am hoping that he is just being modest.  Otherwise it could be interesting :-)  Either way it is going to be a VERY fun two weeks.  (The other two children learn Indonesian and we are blessed to have a native speaker in the family for practise and three others who speak it fluently)

Today we took a brief break and celebrated Nephew 3's 4th birthday.  All the cousins had a fun time and we laughed lots.  The Extrovert entertained everyone with jokes and dramatics.  Nephew 2 & 3 love him for it.  But he really does love little kids.  This morning was his first morning volunteering in the creche at church.  The leader was very impressed with him and the kids all love him already anyway.

Happy 4th Birthday to my monkey!

The sun was shining today and it was lovely to sit in the sun and just soak it up.  The weather was perfect and I would love it to be like today everyday!  I may have even gotten just a teeny bit sun-burnt LOL

Off to write a menu for the week and sort out some groceries.  Counterfeiting will just have to wait for a little bit :-)

Have a safe and wonderful day,

Chipper

The past week ...

I shall never again make a declaration to blog more ... it seems that I end up asking for trouble!!!  Don't get me wrong, life is still good but this week has been a roller coaster!!  But there is a happy ending, I promise :-)

Although my Grandpa's passing was expected it still took me by surprise.  I think I was affected more than I thought I would be.  When someone is dying for such a long time, and they bounce back after every turn for the worst, you start to believe that they are invincible.  So it did take the wind out of my sails when I got that phone call.  Thank you all for your words of support on my last post, they meant the world to me.

When I wrote the Storytelling Sunday post I already had more to say but I didn't want to cause any concern for non regular readers so I left it off.  We had to work the morning of the funeral but thankfully our new business partner was able to cover us for the rest of Monday so I could spend time with my family.  The kids had chosen to come to the funeral so we were all at the shop Monday morning.  The LOML had taken The Thinker over to the shopping centre to get a hair cut as he was looking very untidy (he says that is my definition and not his LOL).  While over there The LOML started to feel unwell (similar to how he felt just over a year ago) but like most of us stubborn individuals he refused to acknowledge that anything was happening and still drove through drive thru for our snack.  By the time he returned to the shop he was really looking bad and The Thinker was very worried and upset.  Within the next 20min he had started to go downhill with similar symptoms to last time, shortness of breathe/paralysis/tingling.  We decided to call an ambulance as they had put it down to a very mild stroke last time because they couldn't find anything wrong otherwise.  It was not expected to happen again.

I phoned my dad and told him what was happening and that I was not even sure if I would make the funeral.  I couldn't get hold of my mom to come and get the kids as she was already on her way to the funeral and is notorious for not carrying her phone around.  By the time the ambulance arrived The LOML was unable to stand unsupported.  The paramedics were wonderful and got him onto the bed and in the ambulance very quickly.  They told me it would be awhile before I would be able to see him in the Emergency Department and last time it was nearly 3 hours before I was allowed in.  They recommended that I wait and phone the emergency department in an hour to see how things were going.  So I drove the kids up the the funeral home to drop them off to my mom and sat in for the last half of the service.  I am glad that I made it just for that little bit.  All of the family asked after The LOML as they had all heard the news by then. When I phoned Emergency the doctor said he was stable but that they were still assessing him and it would be awhile yet before he would be allowed visitors.

I am not one who 'waits' well.  I need to be doing things.  Sitting in the Emergency waiting room surrounded by sick people in the middle of one of the worst flu seasons in years was not appealing.  So I drove the children to the wake and my mom would take them home from there.  My dad was glad I was there.  I helped serve some of the food, refill drinks and just chit-chat.  I left after a little bit and decided to take the train to the hospital.  It is situated right in the city centre and parking there is highway robbery, not to mention the traffic you have to sit in.  Park & Ride is a great invention (especially when the parking is free)!!!  I was at the hospital in less than 15 min as the train station is right next door.  Just as I was walking in the door The LOML texted me 'hello'.  I knew then that he was all ok!!!  He had just been moved out of Emergency and was in a holding area until a bed was allocated.  They were keeping him in for tests but he was looking very good and almost back to his normal self.

A train ride back out of the city to pack an overnight bag, then another one back in with the kids, and my very eventful day was almost over!!!  When we left the hospital for the last time that night at 7pm he still hadn't been allocated a bed.  Every hospital is currently packed with people with severe flu and related complications.  He did later get a bed in the general ward.  After many more tests and consults The LOML finally came home Thursday evening.  It is great to have him home.  They are still guessing as to what it is, but hopefully they have it right this time and it won't happen again!  He is still tired as you never get much sleep in a hospital and one of the men on his ward was just a little nuts :-)  We are all happy to have him home and well.

See, I told you it was a happy ending :-)
Chipper

Update ...

So much has gone through my mind in the past month that it has been best to keep my mouth shut :-)  Memories of my mom telling me "If you don't have anything nice to say than don't say anything at all!" kept popping to mind.  You will remember that we had put the business up for sale with the decision to close if it didn't sell.  Lots of offers came in and people entered discussions.  My mind boggles at the thought of everything that happened in only a few weeks and we have been left in limbo ever since.  I even went on a job interview and we considered all sorts of options!

But the offer that we accepted was finalised only yesterday (Monday).  It was a long drawn out affair which required that we set a firm cut off point of Monday morning.  But the result is what The LOML wanted, but to which I am still slightly sitting on the fence about.  Only time will tell exactly how it will all go.  As of Monday we have a new business partner.  This was not an option which we had even thought of so it took us a bit by surprise too.  It solves many problems and will in time give me more time with my kids, which is my primary motive for our decision.  I am still very hurt by some of the local happenings but through all of this I have discovered that we do have tons of wonderful customers who popped in just to tell me to keep my chin up when things were still up in the air.  And they didn't even know what was going on as confidentiality agreements kept me from saying anything.

The stock in the shop was just about wiped out after we made the announcement and it wasn't even on sale!  So I have lots of ordering (or SHOPPING!!!) to do and that always makes me happy :-)  The next few weeks are going to be chaos but that now seems to be the norm around here LOL

I started Shimelle's latest class today and am really hoping to try and keep up so you may see a bit more of me :-)  I do seem to get more done when I have a firm direction as time is so short.  Well I had better get back to my "shopping" but I just wanted to quickly share.  I have spent so much time thinking and praying and although I am not sure about this decision, I felt that this was a time in which I needed to follow The LOML's lead.  Not something in which I always excel so maybe it will be an important lesson!  I can most definitely be extremely stubborn and opinionated!

Chipper :-)

A Spoon Full Of Sugar ...

I haven't done anywhere near the amount of challenges yet over at Shimelle's that I had wanted to but I will just keep doing them as time permits.  This weekend seemed to slip through my fingers and now that it is Monday afternoon I am so tired I could curl up at my desk and sleep!  (One of the advantages of being self employed is being able to blog at work).  A friend of mine was given tickets to the theatre performance of Mary Poppins for Christmas and she kindly asked me to go with her.  So on Sunday we went to the matinee performance and it was wonderful.  I grew up on the Disney movie Mary Poppins and I in turn have shared it with my kids.  I know every song and at one time I even knew almost every word of the movie.  So imagine my surprise to find the stage musical differed to the movie!  Although it was adapted to the stage by Disney Theatrical in 2004 it contained more scenes than the movie, which I have sense learnt are from the books (which I haven't read).

Once I recovered from my surprise that there was a different song in the opening 20min I decided to forget all that I once knew and just enjoy the show.  And I am glad I did.  There is nothing like seeing a live performance and while the performers do amaze me, my favourite part is watching the stage and how they do all the changes.  I love the intricate sets which change with ease and this show was incredible!  Oh how I would love to build this sort of thing.  Thankfully the stage show didn't meddle with my favourite song or I think I might have cried.  And it probably isn't the song you are expecting :-)  I used to sing this one to my kids as a lullaby.  I have put it below for those of you poor unfortunate people who haven't had the pleasure of enjoying Mary Poppins.



Since I announced my big news about an era coming to an end things have been pretty full on here.  We have had some unexpected offers and are working through them all at the moment.  I don't yet know how I am feeling about some of them as they were never an option I had considered.  In general it has been very pleasant to get positive feedback from people but the rumor mill has started to whirl at full speed, and although some are so funny that my sides hurt from laughing, some are quite serious.  One even claims that The LOML is dieing!  Imagine my children's horror at hearing that one.  Thankfully we were able to catch it quite quickly and the kids new that it wasn't true.  (Thanks go to a quick thinking friend who let me know about it as soon as she heard it)  Not one of the nasty 'click' have even been in to spend their free vouchers, so I think they are either finally feeling bad about the trouble they caused, or they have moved on to someone else.  I hope for that unknown persons sake that they are just laying low.

I have a job interview tomorrow and I don't even know now if I will be available to even take the job as so much is up in the air.  But I am feeling good and getting through each day thankful that we are all healthy (LOL) and happy that their are options.  Thank you to you all for your kind comments.  Isn't it funny how our modern world works.  People have friends all over the world that they haven't even met! And you don't even have to be a nerdy person (although I am) with a pen-pal :-)

Chipper

The end of an era and the start of something new ...

I mentioned the other day that I had big news but perhaps I should fill you in on some background first.  You may or may not know that The LOML and I own a papercrafting store.  This is the second one I have owned as the first one was in a small country town in a different country to where we now live.  But this time we went bigger and decided to do it together.  Previously I owned a business at one end of town and he owned a different business at the other end of town.  We often met at a cafe in the middle of town for lunch :-)

My original country town store.  The class room was out the back.

When we returned to Australia we saw the opportunity to do something bigger and better than what was currently available, with much better pricing (I couldn't believe how much local customers were getting ripped off!) and so we did.  It has been a success and to begin with we both enjoyed it very much.  We have a terrific core bunch of customers and I think there has always been a generally good feeling about shopping with us.  Some of the other stores weren't happy as they were forced to lower prices to compete and that is one of the best parts about being in retail.  Seeing prices drop to what they should have been all along and being the one responsible for it!

The day we got the keys to our new store

We worked very hard that first year working 7 days a week and only having public holidays off while building the business.  We then hired someone to take some of the load off and things were going very well.  But the current economic climate is starting to take its toll and this year we had to lay off our employee.  To prevent us having to go back to 7 days a week working we started to close on Sundays.  It has been bliss to have time off together as a family as we had still worked every weekend previously.  The kids come to work with us on weekends and holidays and it just isn't fair on them to continue doing it.  Both of us work upwards of 50 hours a week with no holidays.

We did everything ourselves including designing and building all the stands.

However the thing that has caused the most hurt is the local campaign against me.  About a year ago someone started to spread lies about me throughout the local papercraft industry.  She discovered that although I try to always be nice, I won't allow myself to be manipulated by others.  I won't do something just because she demands it.  There were some nights where all I did was cry.  At times blogging was the only escape from the hurt as NONE of my customers even know this blog exists.  I use a childhood nickname so that my real friends can find me but I remain undiscovered by anyone else.  Through my blog I have found some great online friends who brighten my day just by their comments and their blogs.  I enjoy sharing in the pieces of your lives that you write about and love that you want to share these things with us.  There is a current train of thought in my city that says that to own a papercrafting store you have to create pages that are works of art and weighed down with a bucket load of chipboard and Prima.  But that is just not me and so I can't even share any of my work in the store or the criticism I receive from that group just about destroys me.  When my blogging slowed down is about when I hit rock bottom.

Opening day - looks lots diff now :-)

But you know, I am much better now.  Being home on Sunday has meant I have been able to go back to attending church and I have found strength that I didn't even know was possible.  I started finding joy in the little blessings that pop up both at home and at work, and the weight of the bad started to fade.  And then a light started to appear at the end of the tunnel.  Yes financially we are at our limit.  Our previous home still hasn't sold after three years, and it now isn't even worth the amount it is mortgaged for.  But, someone was interested in buying the business from us.  Research and valuations were done and we were hopeful for a positive outcome.  During all of this we were still confused about our feelings when it came to selling.  Some of the time we were sure it was the right thing to do and then we would have a great time at a craft night and we would think of all we would be missing out on.  And then the sale fell through ...  and we were very disappointed.  That was one way of knowing for sure that we didn't want to be running this business anymore.  If we were meant to keep it we would have been happy.

Set up shops at craft fairs

So this week we told our customers that we are for sale for a brief period, and if we don't sell or enter negotiations in that time, we will be closing at the end of the month.  If that is the case then we will move our store online.  I don't think I have been happier in over a year.  For the past few days I have had customers come in heartbroken that we are doing this, and while I will miss them, I won't miss the 'bricks & mortar' part of the business one bit.  Customers have gotten crankier and harder to please over the past few years and my brother put it well the other day when he said "We now have Christmas customers all year long"!

Hosted The Princess' party in the class room

I must admit that I have been surprised by the supportive and generally positive feedback that we have received on our business Facebook page and by email.  I will miss many of our lovely customers and a few have even become good friends which I will continue to see regularly :-)  I have yet to have any contact or feedback from the 'click' I mentioned earlier, but I am sure that is to come after the Easter weekend.  Discussions about my business are popping up on craft forums everywhere containing plenty of speculation which is proving to be interesting (and comical) reading.  Don't these people realise that store owners are often members of these same forums?????

Held crazy craft-a-thons

Now I look ahead and the future is rosy even if there is still a long road to travel.  Whichever way our lives end up going all will be fine.  We have had some interest in the business so far and only time will tell if they are genuine or just being nosey.  I close up the shop for today in 20min to have two days off in a row with my family.  This is what life is about, spending time with family.  Not working yourself to the bone and dragging your kids along with you.  I have missed out on sharing so much with my kids over the past few years and I am not going to miss out any more.  I know this was a long post but I needed to get it all out.  If you made it this far I am duly impressed :-)

Chipper

Our most recent shop birthday