Ds dreaming's

Your Power Color Is Gold

You're dependable and hard working. You never miss a deadline - and you're never late.You have a clear sense of right and wrong. You're very detail oriented.You get frustrated when your friends are sloppy - or when they don't follow through.You're on top of things, and you wish that everyone else was!

What's" Your Power Color?

God that doesnt sound like me huh? Blush! Today I had my first satellitte meeting with all the other managers up at Caloundra by the beach. My lovely dad picked me up at 7am and then hung around until 1pm till we finished. It took me a little while to speak up, but I made some really good points! Yea for me! It was sooo nice up at the coast by the beach that I would have wanted to stay all day, instead I had to go back to work. I dont have testing tommorow so I will do all the new paperwork I learnt about today, I love all my folders and stationary and being (or atleast looking) organised. I wore my new mary jane shoes which looked very swish. Bring on the new uniform.

Stevie had to have some tests today, allergy tests but he's not home yet! I've cooked him a rogan josh curry with some samosa, I wonder where he is!

I definatly need to get my a into gear and get my drivers liscense. Unfortunatly I need to take my l's again...grr as I got my l's in victoria and subsequently renewed them for 11 years and have now lost them! Grumble Grumble.

I can't keep on expecting my lovely dad to drive me to satellitte meetings!

I will need to save to get one of these, as I refuse to drive anything else. I think I will name her Dorian or Yves. I would like it in a steelish gray, or a sagey-mint green or black. It just better have good air conditioning and be dependable cause I would hate to break down. I'm a skittish driver as it is,I used to be scared of trucks pulling up next to me. It would also need to be automatic!

Meltdown.

My God I'm roasting! It is soo unbelieveably warm and sunny, stevie is in a ice cold bath as we speak at 4.30 trying to get cool. We had the day off together and went down to Redcliffe where with the jetty and bay is about 10 degrees cooler, we had lunch at Hogs Breath Cafe, I had a lovely mushroom and advocado salad and stevie had a pork chippolatta with breaded mushrooms and curly fries. We had lunch outside in the beautiful breeze and then went for a little walk to my favourite ribbon shop where I got some more and visited a charity shop where I got a yellow drinking flask for decoration which is in perfect condition for $3.00.
On sunday mum and I went to ferny grove markets where I got two japanese ceramic plant holders, One really cute one with a cactus for $2.00 and a troff one for $3.00 I also got a vintage photo and frame for $3 for the art deco room. I'm going to rest it on the little trolley I'm going to fill with books.
We then went over to chermside where mum met up with her friend Connie for some coffee and I visited the shops, I got an awesome dress 60's in style with cap sleeves and beautiful flower buttons for $10 reduced down from $50 at a shop called tempt, I wore it today and am well happy as its a very small size 10! I also visited the jewellery shop Diva (where we went judy, there was one in the city:the one that sells alot of bakelite and plastic jewellery) which was having a big sale where nearly everything in the shop was $2. $60 later I have now plastic earrings in every colour imagineable, with matching braclets, awesome little hair bow clips, the lot! I also bought another fan so we can each have one on the sides of the bed.

I have kept up with my walking going every night for atleast an hour! I have lost just over 3.5kgs which is really good, but best of all I have firmed up,there are some steps by the beach, about 20 in total which I go up and down five times, by the end of that I have jelly legs! I will have to go at about 6 tonight as its far tooo hot.
We want to paint the house before we get air conditioning, as its silly getting it in summer when everyone does and is expensive, the same with the pool.
There is an auction this sunday as the antique shop at margate is closing down, mum and I are going to have a look for some art deco goodies.
I think I have lost about 10 kgs in water today! I want summer to end now! We had a huge summer rain pour down last night at about 10.30-11pm. It went for about an hour and it was so heavy you couldnt even hear yourself speak.
I'll try to take a picture of my bird goodies a little later.

Aussssstraaalia day.

Happy Australia Day everyone.
yesterday was australia day and we all got the day off, so what did we do? Swelter about in the summer heat and had a smashing bbq.

It was 37 degrees yesterday! and 35 today, though I was in air conditioning all day today, and was going to go for my daily hour walk but decided to update my blog instead, my folks are coming around for a bbq left over dinner tonight whilst Stevie has band practice so I'll set up outside nice instead, and dance around like a dork tonight. I will just make sure I go for 2 hrs tommorow.

Yesterday we had wade and ruby and tracey over and we cooked up a storm.
Dippa's bread, turkish bread and garlic bagels with beetroot dip, homous, a thai and cashew dip for starters, with stuffed vine leaves.
For drinks we had pineapple juice with ginger beer, lime and mint.

Dinner was handmade (by me!) Lamb sheesh kebab with mint and coriander, stevie's lemon and chilli chicken, steak, sweet chilli and garlic roasted potatoes, basil and garlic roast mushrooms, roast balsamic vegetable cous cous with sweet potato, red peppers, green peppers,red onion, carrott, zucchinni, and chilli, a mango lime chilli and red onion salsa, a chickpea, cucumber and yoghurt salsa, a garden salad and pita breads.

Dessert was watermelon, strawberries and mango, vanilla ice cream, chocolate mud cake and strawberry cheesecake.
I have so much left over! It was a really nice day.
It pretty much is an anniversarry as such for our 1st year in Australia, we left just about now from Scotland! It feels so long ago.
Next Australia day stevie can become an aussie and get a wattle tree as his 'present' for being a citizen! Lucky him huh!

I'm dieing for our pool. Hurry up poool!

Hot Hot HEAT!

You can only imagine how hot 35 degrees is with 70% humidity! That has what it has been every day for the last week or so. I have enjoyed being in the beautiful air conditioning at work every day, today stevie and I had to face it! We went to sandgate on a little antique shopping and then went to the full moon tavern for lunch. Stevie was walking down the street with his shirt half off at times it was that hot! We stopped off at redcliffe on the way home and saw the cutest ewokish looking kitten ever at the pet shop and I bought $8 of ribbon from my favourite old habadaschery shop, considering ribbon there is mainly 20cents per metre, that was a whole lot of ribbon I got!
I got a macadamia and mango ice cream and stevie got a honeycomb and strawberry ice cream and we sat by the jetty on a balcony at redcliffe and enjoyed the beautiful sea breezes, it cooled it down by atleast 5-10 degrees!
Unfortunatly after that we had to come home! Poor kitties in the heat every day, I started looking for cat enclosures but think I am going to put my brain into gear and will try to fix up our little back shed, I am also this weekend going to investigate air conditioning units for the front and back room, i think its maybe too much to get one in ours?, I want the twin ducted types and mum says alot are on sale with insulation at the momment, and then in the paper we will look for our pool. When we get the pool I will never leave the house!

Stevie has gone fishing this afternoon. This friday is Australia Day and everyone gets the day off, we are having a very aussie day and having a bbq. We're making lemon chicken on the bbq, steak,lamb shisk kebabs, garlic potatoes, vegie couscous, steak,herbed cucumber and tomato, with pita's . I'm going to make a mint pineapple juice punch and we're getting some pavlova and cheesecake from the cheesecake shop. We're inviting wade and tracey and ruby over.

My work is going fantastically. I love it. I have a big satellite meeting on wednsday up at Mooloolaba!
I have stayed true to my new years resolution to get fit, I have been walking every night for an hour around the bay, I walk really fast so an hour gets me far! and last friday I spent an hour walking and then also an hour bike riding, after my hour on my bike my butt and legs felt the burn! Its working wonders, as I have met hip and rib bones which I havent seen since scotland! I am going to try to keep up my walking atleast 5 days a week and I am suprised at my dedication as I feel bad if I even consider not going! When I do go, I feel great if not super sweaty! I go at 5.45 normally and the sun is still out but its not quite as hot and by the time I get home at nearly 7 I am not yet looking like a dill for wearing sunnies!

This sunday my mum and I are going to Lilys cottage and then going up to the Eumundi mountain markets. We went on sunday to some great fruit markets and then out to breakfast together at a great place called BadaBing! Yum!
I am doing a rose garden in my front yard, so my dad and I have mulched like mad over summer whilst all my flowers bar my bouganvilla's and dragonsnaps have died. We're going up to caboolture markets in two weeks to start getting some roses

Hot Hot HEAT!

You can only imagine how hot 35 degrees is with 70% humidity! That has what it has been every day for the last week or so. I have enjoyed being in the beautiful air conditioning at work every day, today stevie and I had to face it! We went to sandgate on a little antique shopping and then went to the full moon tavern for lunch. Stevie was walking down the street with his shirt half off at times it was that hot! We stopped off at redcliffe on the way home and saw the cutest ewokish looking kitten ever at the pet shop and I bought $8 of ribbon from my favourite old habadaschery shop, considering ribbon there is mainly 20cents per metre, that was a whole lot of ribbon I got!
I got a macadamia and mango ice cream and stevie got a honeycomb and strawberry ice cream and we sat by the jetty on a balcony at redcliffe and enjoyed the beautiful sea breezes, it cooled it down by atleast 5-10 degrees!
Unfortunatly after that we had to come home! Poor kitties in the heat every day, I started looking for cat enclosures but think I am going to put my brain into gear and will try to fix up our little back shed, I am also this weekend going to investigate air conditioning units for the front and back room, i think its maybe too much to get one in ours?, I want the twin ducted types and mum says alot are on sale with insulation at the momment, and then in the paper we will look for our pool. When we get the pool I will never leave the house!

Stevie has gone fishing this afternoon. This friday is Australia Day and everyone gets the day off, we are having a very aussie day and having a bbq. We're making lemon chicken on the bbq, steak,lamb shisk kebabs, garlic potatoes, vegie couscous, steak,herbed cucumber and tomato, with pita's . I'm going to make a mint pineapple juice punch and we're getting some pavlova and cheesecake from the cheesecake shop. We're inviting wade and tracey and ruby over.

My work is going fantastically. I love it. I have a big satellite meeting on wednsday up at Mooloolaba!
I have stayed true to my new years resolution to get fit, I have been walking every night for an hour around the bay, I walk really fast so an hour gets me far! and last friday I spent an hour walking and then also an hour bike riding, after my hour on my bike my butt and legs felt the burn! Its working wonders, as I have met hip and rib bones which I havent seen since scotland! I am going to try to keep up my walking atleast 5 days a week and I am suprised at my dedication as I feel bad if I even consider not going! When I do go, I feel great if not super sweaty! I go at 5.45 normally and the sun is still out but its not quite as hot and by the time I get home at nearly 7 I am not yet looking like a dill for wearing sunnies!

This sunday my mum and I are going to Lilys cottage and then going up to the Eumundi mountain markets. We went on sunday to some great fruit markets and then out to breakfast together at a great place called BadaBing! Yum!
I am doing a rose garden in my front yard, so my dad and I have mulched like mad over summer whilst all my flowers bar my bouganvilla's and dragonsnaps have died. We're going up to caboolture markets in two weeks to start getting some roses

Hey big spender.

I dont have much time to write as I have a little organising to do for my new store, but I love it soo sooo much. Its such an awesome store and Bek the girl who I work with is lovely, we get along fantastically. We only have optometry 4 days a week at the momment, but we are hoping that it will go back up to 6 days a week, they just are having a hard time securing a full time optometrist. My customers are all lovely, no stress at all and we have enough time to do things properly which we never did at Chermside!
I have got a well sweet increase in pay, increasing by a third of my normal wage! I didnt expect it to be quite so much, and thats without bonus payments and reviews which happen every 3 months. I am in my element with good stationary, graphs and colour co-ordinated filing!
So soo happy. Its felt like a tonne of stress has come of my shoulders and I feel so relaxed and in holiday mode! My big regional manager is quite young himself and so easy going, he likes ricky gervais and dave chappelle so I'm going to get stevie to put some of his podcasts on disks for me.
I have saturday and sunday off, so I think Mum and I may be going to Montville for the day.
I have a few rosters to work out, not too much work when its only two people!

I actually made a mistake, Im getting nearly 1/2 more, its +18,000 a year extra with a bonus pay of 2,500 into super annuation.

Good stationary.

Has three really busy days back at work, on a normal day we would make about $4000 and handover about $4000 worth of jobs with 3-4 staff members on. Since Thursday we did $9000 in sales and $4000 in handovers, friday we did $7500 and $5000 in handovers and today we did over $8000 in sales and $3000 in handovers with three people on each day. Its been bedlam! I have had paperwork that has needed to be done since Thursday and I've barely had 10 minutes in 3 days to even sit down and do anything!
I start on Monday at Kippa Ring as manager! and am working monday-friday which means 9 days straight! ecck! I do have the whole weekend off next week which will be good, Mum has gone on a saturday off rotation and we are planning maybe to go up to Montville for the day to go to the Eumundi markets, all the nice shops and have lunch at the Montville/Maleny teahouse which over looks the mountains. Stevie has his fishing trip on Tuesday so I am grateful I am working, as it would have been useless being home alone.
My mum picked me up this afternoon so I could do all the washing for the week, I finished at 4pm and it doesnt get dark until after 7.30ish now so I have plenty of sunlight t dry them, they only need about 30 mins in the Oz sun. Its soo very hot today.
We have had rain everynight for nearly a week. Downpours at about 10-10.30 just as we are about to go to bed. It doesn't rain here, it POURS! and it sounds so good on a tin roof. Brisbane is so amazingly green. My yard is like a lush paddock at the momment, bright green and my hydrengas have flowered again. The whole of brisbane is looking so nice at the momment.

I am meeting the girls from my work for my going away breakfast tommorow morning at Bada Bing cafe. They organised to be up early and come in on their day off to see my away. They are so lovely. I got an embroided cushion from one of the girls, its cream silk with cherry blossom and blue birds embroided on it. So beautiful!

We are making Indian for dinner tonight, we went out for Indian a few nights ago with my mum which was lovely. Stevie made a curry paste a few days ago so we are having that with chicken (for stevie) and I'm making small chopped up baked potato and lentil dish with a madras sauce with dipping breads. After dinner I would like to go for a quick bike ride by the beach, come home watch the Bill at 8.30, some midsommer murders and then bed!!

I had some retail therapy indulgence regarding my new job, I bougth myself a gorgeous bright orange diary and then went to sniggle, my fav stationary shop and spent up $30 buying green robot exercise books, gel pens, orange and green rubber bands which are really stretchy to fit over books and papers. How I love good stationary shopping!

Well I'm pleased to announce that I am the new manager for Kippa Ring OPSM, I had a hour and a half interview today and was offered the job today, I start on Monday. It means with my first pay I get to buy my new favourite perfume, Narcissco Rodgreiz as a present for myself, and I am also going to get a brand new shiny diary from my favourite sweedish expensive stationary shop Kiki K, I have to be organised you know!
I'm less pleased to let you know I definantly have a broken toe which cant fit into shoes, is black and blue and twice the size it should be, and is making me walk like an invalid. Because of stevie's hatred of feet I am getting no sympathy for how garish it is looking.No idea how I am going to go wearing shoes at work.
It rained all night, and it was quite coolish today which was lovely, we just came back from a big grocery shop and some Indian dinner with mum. Am very bloated and will get in jammies on couch under doona.
I unfortunatly can't do my resolution today of bike or run because of my toe! Not off to the best start, but ohh well!

OWWWW....i hit my toe against a chair tonight at around 7pm and it really hurt. I didnt think much of it, bar it was really sore when i put some sneakers on to go for a bike ride. Stevie and I rode my bike..well I rode and stevie was a good sport and walked all around Scarborough on the beach. It was lovely and breezy and the strong wind made me go really fast, bar the hill I had to go up which hurt my muscles. We rode for over an hour. We got home and I took my shoe off and my 2nd last toe on my right foot is jet black purple, all squishy and fat and the 'knuckle' is pointing the wrong way. I broke my toe!!!
I cant put any weight on it, I'm going to be walking like pingu to my interview tommorow!!! Ouch Ouch Ouch!

2006 in review

2007 started in good fashion, it was a hot summer day and we stayed in pjs till atleast 1am. We ate lots of leftovers and made some art in the afternoon, completing our japanese kumurie dolls. I stuffed mine up so stevie made another one, his own design and did such a good job. He made the black background geisha all from scratch. I didnt read the instructions right and it was a big big mistake! I can see how stevie was good at games workshop, he's quite paitent!

I watered the garden whilst stevie cooked us an awesome prawn bhuna from all the prawns we had left over, we got the recipe from the net and used our chillies from our own front garden! It was very authentic tasting! That night we stayed up and listened to all our old cds, and music I used to listen to when I was 16 and 17, whilst also reading books in bed. It was a really good day overall.

Today we went for lunch and a movie, we went and saw A night at the museum with ben stiller and ricky gervais. It was pretty good, but just a tad schmultzy in parts. We are making pasta and bruschetta tonight and then going for a twilight bike ride. I bought a pair of shorts and a miami ink tattoo shirt at kmart! Tattoo shirts at kmart!

Tommorow we will enjoy our last day off together, I have my interview for the Kippa ring store at 10am at Cafe Nada at Scarborough Beach. Bit bummed I have to do it on a day off, but the sooner the better I guess!

I dont think I am doing any new years resolutions bar maybe ride my bike and get relatively fit.

We do however have house plans: this year we would like to:

*fix up art deco room:easily done, only need to make curtains, and get some art deco decorations and frame some prints.

*put a heat fan in the ceiling and get the ceiling replastered in the bathroom

*paint the house

*try to get a above ground pool installed.

*have a cat pen installed in backyard.

We were going to get airconditioning but to be honest it hasnt been too unbearable. Its been the mildest summer for 7 years with averages around 28-29 without too many 35+ degrees days like last year. January is meant to be hotter but we are really only home two days a week and in winter there will be specials for air conditioning. I think we could maybe survive with an airconditioner in the main big longue room and maybe a small one in our bedroom. I think the house is too big to get fully air conditioned and once you open the windows it's not too bad.

2006 was a really big year for us:

*we left scotland in febuary

* had 5 awful days in hong kong

*moved to brisbane

*found jobs within a week and started jobs within days in stevie's case!

*saved money and bought our first home in July

*scavaged garage sales, the sidewalk, lay-byed at sales, scoured antique shops to furnish a 4 bedroom two longue room house!

*made some friends

*met all the family

*had judy over for an amazing two months

*learnt how to sew

*learnt how to bbq

*had three caravan holidays down in potsville

*desa and isis became firm friends

* celerated our first wedding anniversary, our 3rd xmas together

happy 2007.

Happy new year everyone! Its 10am, January 1st here and we've been up for an hour or so. We had a small gathering at our house last night with stevie, myself, mum and dad, wade and tracey and little ruby. We had enough food to feed a small army, with turkish bread, indian dipping bread, a beetroot dip (yummo), a sundried tomato dip, homous, a thai dip with cashews which is soo good, bbq halmoui cheese and then for dinner, chilli and lemongrass bbqed chicken, steak,onions, prawns, a cos lettuce dill and roasted pine nut salad, bruschetta, a balsamic tomato and onion side and berry and orange rind trifle with brandy cream and a chocolate mud cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. We also had pineapple and ginger beer punch which was soo good.

We got a new fridge and freezer on thursday. It has the freezer at the bottom and fridge on the top and it makes everything sooo super duper cold, its awesome. Best thing is desa can't open it up! Our old fridge is on the deck as a beer fridge for stevie. At the momment it has about 40 pepsi max's and 30 beers in it. It was great last night having all the food ready to bbq in it. We rearranged our deck, so the fridge is near our bedroom door, and has a small trestle table next to it, the church pew is facing our bedroom door, our setting is in the middle and our bbq on the far left hand side. It looks really good.

Everyone came over around 7ish, Mum and dad had to leave at 10pm as mum had to start work at 5am. We all stayed up chatting, with little ruby being so good, she's the most beautiful baby, the boys and ruby when in and watched some david chappelle stand up comedy at about 10 and tracey and i chatted on the deck. At 11.30 we went down to the beach, it was pretty packed, there was a laser beam which you could see from our house, a dj playing mc hammer and rick james and funny 80's and 70's music with some bad 90's music mixed in, a jumping castle and ferris wheel. There was a stall selling glo sticks and 2007 elton john glasses and devil headbands and the like, so everyone had them on, it was a scene out of miami vice! It looked pretty as it was nearly a full moon and there was just a teeny bit of grey cloud cover which made it now quite black, and the fireworks were set off from a barge floating in morteon island. We were standing right infront of the barge and they were actually really good! I expected about 5 fireworks! but it went for probably about 15 minutes.

It was then a mass exodus out of there, and we were home and asleep for about 2ish. The fantastic thing is the house is spotless, my parents washed up for us and we have a mountain of good food and desserts to last us the next 3 days off!

We are having a really relaxed day today, its quite sunny and warm already, so maybe this afternoon we will go for a ride, well me ride, stevie walk around to scarborough beach, along the beach walk to redcliffe (where the really nice apartments are on the tree lined landsborough road).

We hope everyone has a fantastic new year and even better year ahead of them all. Wish we could see you all xxox

Here are some of the pics from xmas day.