Tag Archive for home

Part Time Holidays

08/01/2012 Joh Business, gratitude, holidays, learn, work

I’m continuing my part-time job during the school holidays. I love working there, some days it doesn’t even feel like work. My days off are more precious because they are rarer.

This week a customer came in who is converting a barn and we had a great conversation about all the challenges involved and found the perfect floor covering for her needs. I’m delivering it to them next week and will get to see the project. I meet lots of interesting people making their homes in their own ways and it’s fun to help them select the perfect floor covering.

I enjoy my drive to work. It’s about 45 minutes through really open country. Lots of people complain about the boringness of that drive, but I experience the spaciousness. The countryside changes colour with the clouds. I love it. There are a couple of spots on the way that I pay particular attention to.  Such big views! I enjoy listening to my music and making playlists for the trip.

I had big plans for the shop over Christmas. I was expecting less traffic and getting lots done. We did a bit but were busier than I expected, which is always a good thing, so there are still a few more jobs on my list. I have found a place for all our new tile samples. I enjoy maintaining the displays and getting to know each pattern, texture and size, imagining where it would best serve. Filing it away in my mind so when the right person comes I will know where to find it.

We are getting the computer program and systems into better shape. I need to learn more about MYOB. It is a different package to the one I used for ‘The Butchers Dog’ so there are things I am tweaking. The book-keeping is different. I did the book-keeping for ’Unique Furnishings’ and ‘Total Vision’ manually and I had systems in place to keep informed of the business stats. I am still working towards finding the way to get this businesses stats.

I love the freedom and responsibility my boss gives me to have a hand in all aspects of the business. It feels as though it is my own, yet I am working with a team. There is another sales person as well. We often all have different opinions and this makes for more interesting discussions.

I am immersed in home improvement. I am learning. That is what I love most about my part-time work.

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I have a new job

01/11/2011 Joh family, gratitude, work

I am working part-time in a new job. I love it. It was one of those serendipitous jobs. I have Judy to thank for it. I talked to my mum, that led me to call my Auntie. She asked me if I wanted a job. I said yes and drove to Sale and met my wonderful new employer. He said yes and I began last week.

I’m still working with my disengaged students on Wednesdays and at the local Secondary college Mondays and Tuesdays, so I have a full weeks work now and a very nice balance of activity.

I’ve worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning. I love helping people to select their floor coverings. My boss has just bought the business so whilst it is an established business there are lots of changes and improvements being made. We have an amazing range and are switching the business systems from manual to computerised. He’s also redecorating the shop and expanding the range which I’m also enjoying. He asks my opinion about everything and that keeps me interested.  I loved the ad for our business even before I met them. I know I’m going to have a lot of fun here.

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Clear a Space

16/08/2011 Joh home

Yes, I’m cleaning up and rearranging again. Last night I did the cupboard under the stairs that has become an overflowing pile of books with other random items hidden amongst the piles. It’s clear now with just two items I love in the wonderful space. A lamp Tom bought me and a large ceramic Asha made. I feel so much better. Less really is more.

I’ve been reading my feng shui books lately because I was looking for some colour advice for a specific area of my home, hoping to improve the energy there. I was reminded that the basic, beginning thing to do is make sure your home is clean and free of object that are unwanted, broken, dusty or not used. I have applied this simple cure to a couple of areas of my home and everything has lifted already.

Sometimes I think I need to get stuff or buy stuff to improve my home, but usually it’s best to let go of stuff and clean:). At least as a starting point!

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Long Weekend in Winter

13/06/2011 Joh family, home, random, reading

The weather has been great this weekend and we have managed to clean up the remaining leaves from the big tree at the front of our house that fills a number of green bins during autumn. We had the children this weekend and they have just left to return to their mums. It was great weather to be outside playing in the leaves. There was bike riding, play with skipping ropes,  a number of art works created, an assignment on Scotland, delicious meals and we watched ‘Toy Story 3′ and both the ‘Nanny McPhee’ DVDs. The short days are cosy.

In amongst all this activity I have been reading and cleaning the house. I continue to simplify and shed things I don’t want. This is a constant in my life. Each time I wonder where it all comes from. This time I have removed a massive pile of old cookbooks from my kitchen cupboard. I have rarely consulted them and they will enjoy a new home. I have a small book of recipes I have had an added to, since I was a child that can stay. I also tucked away Tom’s cocktail glasses out of view. They were on display on my kitchen shelves and as constant cocktail parties are no longer a part of our scene, I decided they were just collecting dust and cobwebs. Speaking of cobwebs, I think I have a spider colony cohabiting with us lately. I am clearing cobwebs on a daily basis it seems.

I have been reading some astrology books, some marketing/business books, a fantasy novel and a spiritual book, all in turns. I will review them all as I finish them. I have spent very little time this weekend on Darin’s laptop. I have my emails coming to my phone and my last two laptop holidays a month or so ago have forced me to customise my iPod Touch and N8 to manage anything important that I rely on a computer for. I had an attempt on Friday night to blog from my phone but it was just painful, so that is one thing I will continue to rely on a laptop for. I am journalling by handwriting in a notebook. I have lost a couple of weeks journalling that I hadn’t backed up. Perhaps I need to journal directly onto a hard drive to avoid this and also upload photos onto a hard drive. I have moved almost everything else I rely on, to online services now that I can access from any computer. I guess these three enforced breaks from my laptop have possibly forced me to make my technology work better for me.

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It’s back!

29/04/2011 Joh Business, home, learn, work

The laptop returned yesterday. There is much to do! I am doing it all differently now. I have pruned subscriptions and am reducing the online activity to things that are consistently important to me. I don’t seem to have the time to wade through ‘randomly interesting’ lately. I have created a group on facebook whose status I read and the remainder … well they are still friends, but I probably don’t need to know what they choose to share about themselves. The last couple of years many more of my friends have got online, so I think I’ve had an increase in online activity that has made less space for others.

There are also more financial and administrative activities online now. I’ve been amazed at how many bills I’ve muddled up without the records on my computer and the passwords to access different accounts. I hope this time my laptop is going to be more stable but I also think I’m going to be smarter about managing it all and backing up the things I really need.

It’s also now that I finally get around to reorganising my space for winter. I like the rearrangement of our lounge room and fortunately the kids did too when they arrived tonight. They were quite excited by it.

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead and the business is gathering speed (fortunately!). Darin made the most delicious Whiting today it was simply coated in seasoned flour, pan fried with a lemon sauce. It was simple and delicious. He asked me to taste it and usually I just have a bite, but I gobbled the whole fillet, cause it was amazing. It sold out pretty quickly and those who dined in also raved about it (so it’s not just my bias;)). I think he works better when I leave him to it. I was teaching yesterday and this morning after setting up I came home to do some book work. I reckon we muck around too much and get distracted sometimes, which is fun, but we really need to meet more of our targets so I think I might leave him to his own devices a bit more often:).

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I Dream of Rearranging

31/03/2011 Joh holidays, home

Today one of my past students visited me at work. It’s always lovely to see them. He asked me what I was doing for Easter. The first time someone has asked me what I’m doing for my now drastically reduced holiday period. I realised what I would really like to do and what I usually do at Easter holidays is stay home and rearrange. In fact if I look back on the past that is what I’ve usually done at Easter. If I were to do a timeline on rennovations to my home, painting, etc it would often be at this time of the year. I like this time of year. I really love Autumn light.

It’s when I set myself up for winter and each sunny day is appreciated. It requires a rethink of living space.I want to move our furniture so we are facing the fire, instead of having it to the side. I want more blankets draped around the lounge room. I want a rug on the tiles. I want to prepare for the colder times ahead.I want to prune the summery things from my wardrobe and make sure I have the warm clothes available.

Daylight savings ends Sunday. I’m looking forward to winter. It’s more comfortable working in a kitchen when it’s not hot outside.

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The Fridge

29/03/2011 Joh family, friends, gratitude, home

Just read this post at Semantically Driven: Declutter or not with a revealing photo of her fridge. I love it. It tells so much…. like all our fridges. I would love to see a collection of fridge photos. Jen is clever.

They are a snapshot of the members of a home and life shared. It’s rare to come across a totally bare one. It kind of reminds me of that film ‘The Castle’ with the dad who put all the precious things in the billiard room. I remember my nana used to put special things in her crystal cabinet and in other homes the mantle piece over the fire place was the spot. Perhaps the fridge is more changeable though and less formal. Most homes have these spaces. Display houses don’t and that’s why no matter how many decorators put them together, they aren’t homes.

I love the things on my fridge. I love the randomness of it. I love that when the kids return, they always check out the fridge, not just what’s inside it either, although that usually comes! Photo’s of all our children and  artwork by the children are at the centre. The poetry art that Cath gave me and the magnetic pictures R (4) got from Asha for Christmas are top and bottom.On the side are invitations, reminders of really important things and little scraps of paper with sayings that speak to me. A vintage postcard with the line ” I dream of storage space.”  There’s a Baci wrapper saying about love, a magnet with a picture from the M.I.L.K series and other sayings mostly about love.

I have stripped my fridge at times and started again and looking at it now, it’s probably due for that kind of treatment, along with the rest of my house to be honest. I usually put most of the stuff off the fridge in a shoebox. I have a few of those now, I’ve never been through them, but it feels like artifact central of my life. I could spend too many hours recollecting if I start sifting. Perhaps I will rearrange at Easter. There are postcards on it from my parents last winter holidays and 21st invitations alongside 7 year old birthday parties that were attended or not, months ago.

I always check out peoples fridges when I go to their houses, and if it’s my mum’s : what’s inside too. I have a beautiful collection of photo’s of Darin the first time I went to his mum’s house as he went straight to the fridge and began examining it’s contents. I’ve seen it time and time again, peering into the fridge as if it’s a TV set, we all do it in the homes we feel most comfortable.

I wanted to take up Jen’s challenge and photograph our fridge, and I may. I’m still not comfortable with posting photo’s of my children on the internet, let alone Darin’s children. It feels like a private space to me.  I did want to share my fridge in some way.

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Creating Space

04/01/2011 Joh gratitude, home, random

Today I made spaces for other things.

I got rid of lots of cords for mobile phones that no longer exist and paper that belongs to a previous me. It feels very good. Space is valuable. Simplifying and letting go of irrelevant things is so freeing. I admit I have only partially occupied an office at school. I have been very aware at all times of the transient nature of having a desk, an office or a space. I had much less to deal with at the end of the year than others. I still had some boxes of treasures to decide the fate. I had much more from the previous year of leaving the junior campus and moving to the senior campus.

I have kept the ceramics and woodwork that students have made and given to me. I am using them. I appreciate the gift of their creations.

I keep also the paperwork that can attest to my professional development. The many courses the school has invested in me are valuable to me as they were to the school who provided these opportunities. Everything else I have shed.

It creates a good space for the new.

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Solar Eclipse in Capricorn – Tuesday 4th January 2010

03/01/2011 Joh astrology, Business, family, food, friends, gratitude, home, learn, love, relationships, work

This eclipse is a new moon, so perfect for setting intentions for the future. I have abandoned New Years Day as my first day of new action for a few years now and prefer to make my fresh starts on Chinese New Year and new moons. I use New Years to reflect on the past year. Capricorn is ambitious and so am I this year. I have my ascendent, mars and venus in this sign, as well as Darin having his sun and ascendent, so we have plenty of this energy to work with here:-).

Some horoscopes I’ve been reading for the eclipse:

Kim Falconer
Lynda Hill
Robert Wilkinson :Aquarius Papers
Jan Spiller

This eclipse has good timing. I have intentions for this year and I expect to have a very different lifestyle, if the last few weeks are any indication. The rhythm of my days has changed. I have more freedom even though I spend more time working. It doesn’t feel like work due to the environment. I make choices about what needs to be done and how and when I do it. I feel more creative than I have for a while and it’s resulting in changes in lots of areas.

Many of my intentions are for my home and family for this year. I love home. Last year we completed the laundry and integrated our belongings. When two adults with children merge in a home together everything changes. Our first year together there were still many comings and goings of people and things. We moved house for a short period, we moved back here and then Tom moved to Hamilton Island. It’s probably taken me all this year to pack up his stuff, and it’s not mission accomplished. We intend to rearrange the bedrooms. I want to create spaces for our 5 children where they can feel they belong and have some personal space. It seems like a bit of a challenge, but as they are rarely all here at the same time, we will find a way. This house is amazing really and there are plenty of spaces for everything. I have plenty of other improvement projects to complete around the home.

We had some great family times this year with the offspring as well as our parents and extended family. I want this to continue. It’s been amazing feeding people with Darin to confidently cook. Having Christmas day lunch for my family here was one of the greatest gifts he gave me this year. He makes everything go smoothly and calmly, leaving only enjoyment of delicious food in a relaxed environment.

Darin and I will experience some interesting times working together I expect. We get along pretty well but can both fire up and express ourselves at times also. I need to create time alone for myself as he does somewhere in our week. We have been playing with different ways to do that.

Along the same lines I’ve enjoyed having friends here to eat, drink and stay. I hope to continue and make time to share laughter and stories with all my friends. I have some amazing people in my life and an afternoon spent with a friend can refresh like a holiday.

I want to make soap like frogdancer. She is an inspiration! I use aromatherapy daily in numerous ways, so to make soap would be another extension of that. I find essential oils so supportive to my health and enjoyment of life.

I want to write my blog about the things that are meaningful to me. The filters that I have for my expression have changed. I no longer feel the ‘Catholic School Teacher’ role has to be catered to, which is incredibly freeing, particularly when it rubs up against so much of my personal integrity.

I will be immersed in learning about food this year and will apply some of my past business knowledge and discover how well it applies to this business. I have already discovered many differences between Interior Decorating/Soft furnishings and Food Industries. There are some things that still apply though:-) thank goodness.

I have a volunteer mission this year to work for Lifeline. I want to do their training and be able to serve the community in this way. I was actually thinking about becoming an adolescent counsellor when I first wanted a career change. I just dread the thought of any further University study. I find that institution irrelevant to how I like to learn. It’s too theoretic and disconnected.

We are reopening ‘The Butchers Dog’ on the 10th of January. Traralgon is very quiet at this time of the year. Many businesses take time out and there aren’t as many people around. We are working on the things we discovered in our first weeks. Some time out and reviewing how we went has been helpful in recognising things to change. I have been amazed at how many people have given us advice about what to do. I must admit I have been distracted by it at times and this little time out has allowed Darin and I to get clearer again about what our intentions for the business are and to refocus our vision. When you start there are many things you don’t know, and our little beginning has revealed those things. The alterations that we are making will improve what we do when we return.

There are plenty of hopes for the future like making a vege garden, reading a novel each week, going to more live concerts and performances, using the car less and walking more, going to Hamilton Island to visit Tom (aka have a cheap holiday), taking more photos and world peace starting with me and more, but this will do for now.
I wish for love and abundance for all of us.

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Weekend at Home

12/12/2010 Joh family, gratitude, home, love, work

After all the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks, we have a blissful weekend at home and the kids are here to sweeten it all. They didn’t arrive till late afternoon yesterday so we had the morning to clear the debris of the last few mad weeks. It was such a pleasure to clean my home. Darin handled the car and lawns. Can anyone say sex role stereotypes? I like it like that though :-) .  I threw out some things and feel very conscious right now of minimal ‘stuff’ so home can be easy and peaceful. I was totally in the zone so to speak and found myself cleaning out the pantry and the wardrobe as well as the regular washing, sweeping, vacuuming, dusting and wiping things.

I didn’t go to my last day of school on Friday. It was too much and I wanted to be with Asha for her birthday. She had to go to Melbourne on Friday night for a family (exes) party, so I wanted to enjoy the day with her at least. Friday night Darin and I put our feet up and had a drink and a debrief about what we’ve learnt so far and what we want to try. It doesn’t even feel like work.

Today we are putting up the Xmas tree with the kids. Life is very good.

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