I lost my job :(

By the title of this post, you already know what I am going to talk about. I lost my job yesterday :(

It seems that my ability to learn the skills required for the position were not good enough or fast enough... the real reason I believe is a bit more complex; they lost a client, the property market is very quiet & I was a bit like a square peg in a round hole - so, I find myself back in the job market.

Now for some good news!

Hubby & I have been so disorganised this past year that we only sent off our 2007/2008 tax return to the accountant in January. The good bit is that we are getting some money back - so that will pay the car registration & finalise a few other things - so at least I don't have to stress about that.

AND I have tried today to make myself feel more positive & not focus on the fact that there are lots of people with similar skills to myself that are also looking for work. I spent several hours speaking to Centrelink about unemployment support & sent of my application for three jobs - hopefully I will get an interview from at least one of the applications.

I also indulged in a bit of overdue shopping - well that was my excuse & I'm sticking to it!

I purchased a picture frame to inspire myself to finish designing & stitch a present for an old friend who just became a Dad for the second time & I purchased a blank canvas on which I will create a 40th birthday present for a friend. I better not tell you too much about either of these presents or the recipients will know what to expect before they get them!

So, after a busy day you would think that I would be spending the evening with hubby? Actually, no - he's working nightshift tonight & tomorrow night - so that means I get the bed all to myself - yeah!

Yes, I know I sound mean but he snores & there are some nights when even I don't get a decent sleep but for the next two nights I will. The funny thing is this is exactly what he just said to me before he left for work!

When I started this blog I wasn't sure how much of my life I would want to share - just the good stuff or everything??? I guess it's a question that everyone who has a blog has to ask themselves when things like this happen.

• Do you share?
• Do you keep the blog going & pretend that everything is OK?
• Do you post something happy to try & counteract what has happened?
• Obviously, I've decided to share everything - even the bad stuff!

I would love to hear how you came to your decision [if you have a blog] or what you think you would do [when you start a blog].

Anyway, until next time. Take care & stay safe.
Ciao
Mish :)
xxx

Busy Weekend!

Wow what a busy weekend I've just had!

My girlfriend's daughter turned 21 last week & her party was on Saturday night :)

Jennifer & I have been friends since Jessica was 2 - so you can imagine how old we both felt on Saturday night - he he he!

[The pink ring is the bling that we bought for Jess!]

Jessica has turned out to be a beautiful young woman - she is about to start university & has a wonderful group of friends. We spent the evening eating, talking, playing kelly pool, dancing & having a great time. The kids all left about 11.30pm to go night clubbing in Surfers & I'm sure they had lots of fun too!

*******

Then, on Sunday morning Mike & I crawled out of bed at 6am [literally for me] to spend the morning at Springbook in the Gold Coast Hinterland for some Qigong & breakfast.

Sifu Marc Webster of the Chinese Kung Fu Acade my was the leader of our group. I've been studying Tai Chi with Marc since June 2003 & I've been fortunate enough to also instruct Tai Chi since January 2005.

It is wonderful to spend time with someone who is so positive & always has something encouraging to say, regardless of how bad training might have actually been! Marc is a very busy man as he is also an Accupuncturist with a thriving practice at the A Team Clinic in Mudgeeraba; so it was great to spend a quite & peaceful Sunday morning training with him.

Then afterwards Mike & I went to the farmers markets to pick up fruit & vegetables, then shopping & lunch. It is his birthday on Tuesday - so I bought him a new hat [I'll post a photo later].

Once again, I hope you also had a great weekend. We have NO plans for next weekend & I'm going to try & keep it that way as all my books for university arrived on Thursday night & I haven't had the chance to start reading them yet - more on this in a later post!

Take care until next time

Ciao

Mish :)

xxx

Family Visit

Hubby & I visited his family on the Sunshine Coast this past weekend, mainly because he wanted to visit his mum :)

My husband comes from a 'clan' not a family; his parents divorced when he was a child & they both remarried - so you have this blend of two families with 7 kids - there is; Tim, Michael [hubby], Big David, Shane, Stacey, Little David & Antony!

All the kids [except for Antony] have partners & children of their own; so you can imagine how many people we have to visit everytime we go to the Sunshine Coast!

Hubby's mum [Annette] is a true country girl; even though she was raised in Sydney. The true love of her life was Mel, who ran the Wollombi Pub & is the creator of Dr Jurd's Jungle Juice - if you know what this is then you're as old as me - he he he!

[Annie, Michael & I - Feb 2008]

Sadly, Mel lost his battle with prostate cancer in February 2008 - we still miss him everyday :(

Valentine's weekend was close to the anniversary of his death; even more sad than this is that Annie has become quite weak & unable to live on her own since loosing Mel & last Wednesday moved from her independent living unit into full-time care at the retirement village. So hubby knew that Mum would need some cheering up & the sight of my 'mountain of a man' always makes her smile. So after training & teaching Tai Chi on Saturday morning we threw a few clothes in a bag, jumped in the car & off we went.

We had a lovely weekend spending time with the family, eating, talking & playing pool [a family favourite] & Michael & David took their mum to church on Sunday :) I was going to join them until Bella [David & Louise's new puppy] jumped up onto me with muddy paws & I was wearing cream pants - so I got to stay back & have another cup of coffee with Louise.

We had a late lunch on Sunday with Michael's Dad & 2nd Mum [Ernie & Cheryl] who were down visiting from the Whitsunday's [where they now live] - so all in all we got to visit with everyone. It's always nice to catch up with Michael's family; since Ernie & Cheryl sold their Sunshine Coast home & moved permanently to the Whitsunday's it's usually quite tricky to get all the kids & partners & their kids together - so seeing everyone was great :)

Unfortuantely the trip back to the Gold Coast was not so wonderful, we hit traffic near the turn off for Bribie Island [right at the roadworks] & that delayed our trip home by a little; but the coffee stop at Nudgee on the way south was still good & we did have a wonderful weekend - even if we were exhausted when we got home at 7pm on Sunday night.

I hope that you also had a great weekend - whether you spent it alone, with family, with friends or even working. This weekend has made me realise that life is too short to not smile everyday.

Ciao
Mish :)

First Blog Entry

OK here goes! My first posting on my new blog. I only set this up less than an hour ago after many months of procrastination about whether I should actually create a blog & if so what would I put in it. Well, for a start how many really want to know what is happening in my life apart from family & friends .....

Maybe I should start at the beginning - no not a birth - he he he - but at the beginning of my discovery into blogging & the reasons why I've been inspired by other blogs to create one of my own.

In July 2008 I discovered by accident a some amazing blogs all relating to art & artists of all genres. I started reading them during my lunchbreak at work & within two weeks I wanted a blog of my own. The first blog I found was linked to the website of a gallery in America; "the other side of somewhere" was the first blog I found that spoke about art, life & many other things. This blog lead me to search for others like it & I found so many sites where the bloggers just completely blew my mind. These were artists of all kinds [paint, material] who were living their lives & living their art at the same time - a totally new concept to me.

The blog posts were simple, heartfelt & beautiful, the photos were creative ways of looking at the ordinary things of life & the art - well it was truly amazing!!!

I took out a piece of green paper & started to draw circles on it, inside each circle I listed all the many reasons why I wanted to create my own blog. I look at that piece of paper now & realise that I have neglected this side of myself since that first day & I cannot even explain why I did :(

But I am so glad that this year I've decided to start & finish all those projects that I've wanted to achieve & having a blog is on the list!

So, welcome to my blog; I can only hope that you enjoy this journey with me as I learn, grow & express myself, my life & my art.

Enjoy!

Ciao
Mish :)
xxx