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Note to self: When you decide to put your blog in maintenance mode so that you can change the theme and have it back up and running in a day or so, you should make sure first that you can do what you want to the theme and that you aren’t likely to be distracted and end up with the blog in maintenance mode for waaaaayyyy too long.

Sorry I have been gone so long, it wasn’t intentional. So much has happened, I’m not sure where to start, but here goes hopefully in some kind of “coherent” order:

We had to move the business. Emphasis on “had to”, it wasn’t something that we had planned to do. Hubby and I had been looking at new premises since January and there wasn’t a lot around the size that we needed so that was hard work. We finally found an awesome place which is a brand new, freestanding building, which means that we have the whole place to ourselves and don’t have to worry about blocking the driveway when we have trucks there. Fantastic.

The worst part of the move – organising new phone numbers, internet access and getting the phone system moved over as seamlessly as possible. The telephone and email are critical when it comes to running the business so a lot of work on my part went in to making sure it all worked. In theory it should have. The reality was very different. We had the old numbers diverted to the new numbers and I put vacation messages on everyone’s emails so that people would get some response rather than just nothing at all. Then it all went pear-shaped. There was a problem with the phone line at the exchange so the phone numbers weren’t working – people were ringing the old number and instead of being diverted seamlessly there were being told that the number had been disconnected. UGH. Then the line hunt (where the calls automatically “hunt” for a free line for incoming calls) wasn’t working either so if someone in the office was already on the phone then new calls seemed to the person ringing us, to be ringing out when it wasn’t even ringing at our end. BIG UGH.

Then the new modem developed gremlins and decided every now and then to not work. with no rhyme or reason as to why it wasn’t working.

After several phone calls to both the phone and ADSL providers, we seem to have everything working now, a month down the track. But to say it was stressful for me was an understatement.

With Tiger in his first year of high school, term 1 was really busy – extra workload, extra homework, more after school things going on. Add to this me working extra hours in the build up to the move and after, which meant we were all distracted, busy and stressed out.

I think that almost all of term 1 this year should be written off and we can start again now at the beginning of term 2.

There have been a couple of other things going on, but they are posts in themselves so you will have to wait for me to reveal all.

And that theme that I was working on, I have been doing bits and pieces on it and its almost ready. I hope to get it activated here soon.  Although I have exams for Uni next month and a fair bit of catching up to do (not much Uni work was done due to stress/distraction of the move) so don’t hold your breath cause I don’t want to be responsible for anyone going blue.

I’ll be back soon with another post, I promise. Be gone with you maintenance mode, be gone !!!!!!!!!

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Where has the time gone??? It seems like only a few weeks ago that it was the beginning of the semester and so much lay ahead of me.

Now I am 6 assignments, 15 online quizes and lots of reading down the track and exams start tomorrow.

Its been at least 15 years since I have done exams, if not more. I think that I did some TAFE exams but I can’t remember for sure, it was that long ago. It all feels very daunting for me. The kids and DH are feeling a bit neglected because every spare minute I have been dashing off to the study to do some more work. If I am out, one of my text books is a constant companion in case I have a few minutes to read.

My first exam is tomorrow, the next one is the following Wednesday and the last one is June 24. So, I may not be around much. I will try and read all your blogs but probably won’t have much time to comment. Don’t think I am ignoring you all, I am just distracted and a wee bit stressed about it all.

Take care of yourselves and I will see you on the other side of the exams. I can’t wait because that means I will have some time off for mid-year break, the kids will be on school holidays and I will be able to sleep in. What more could I want?????

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This is my first ever post for Screw Up Tuesday – the brainchild of Bettina. I will admit to making some stuff ups but none of them have been quite as idiotic as this week’s lot. So, in no particular order, here they are:

Tiger had an early Rugby match on Saturday. I dropped him at school at 7.30 and then went home to get Daisy up, dressed and organised then rush back to watch the game. DH was sitting outside having his morning coffee and reading the paper. I went out to kiss him bye, grabbed everything that I needed and rushed out the door with Daisy. As I was getting in the car, DH appears in the garage and frightened the life out of me. He asked me to make sure that I had left the study door open as I had locked the sliding door after I said bye to him. Ooooppss – I had locked him out – every single door into the house was locked and I had done it without thinking. Its habit because I do it every day when the kids and I leave home. Needless to say DH was not happy, but lucky he caught me before I left.

Thursday last week at work I emptied my office bin into a plastic bag to put into the big outside bin. Only trouble is, I forgot that I had emptied the “holes” out of my hole punch into the bin. Ummm, they went all over the floor in my office. There was more “confettit” on the floor than at a wedding. DH had to vacuum it up for me on the weekend, as the vacuum is too noisy to use when every one is here.

My final stuff up for the week: yesterday morning at home my feet were getting really cold on the tile floor at home. Instead of going back upstairs to get my slippers, I put on my very flat, very comfortable shoes with the intention of changing into high heels for work just before I left home. When I got to work I went to do something and accidentally trod on the bottom of my trousers which were hanging on the ground and all of a sudden, way too long. Looked down and I still had on my very comfortable, very flat shoes with my very long work pants that need high heels to stop the bottom of them dragging on the floor. Oooops. I had to stay like that all day as I didn’t have time to go home and change. How embarrasment…….

So, some spectacular blonde moments this week. Watch this space, because at the rate I am going, there is sure to be more stuff ups next week to keep you entertained.

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I just wanted to let you all know I won’t be around for a while. I’m not sure when I’ll be back, I’ve just got lots of things happening at the moment. I hope I’m back sooner rather than later, but I will have to see what happens.See you soon  

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A couple of weeks ago, Tiger was playing a game on the computer while I was busy at the other end of the house. He started giggling. Really giggling. The sort of giggle that comes right from the heart and is contagious – when you hear it you can’t help but laugh yourself. So, being the over protective good Mother that I am, I came rushing to see what he was doing.  And this is what he found. Pull up a chair, grab a drink of some kind and crank up the speakers. Enjoy – it’s long but it’s well worth it.

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Another week down and its Saturday again. Which means its Smiley time.

Smiley Saturday is the brainchild of Lightening so wander on over (if you haven’t already) and say hi to her.

Its been another busy week here but there has been lots to smile about.

• The kids are staying with their grandparents for a week – so its very, very quiet here.
• Kin was down in Sydney for the week so I managed to catch up with her and her beautiful daughter Megwyn who is now 9 weeks old. And what else would 3 girls do – go shopping of course
• DH and I went to the Archibald Prize last night – it was a work function and it was a great night. It’s so different seeing the paintings up close rather than just a photo of them. And as always, art is something that people either agree or disagree on and its interesting to hear what people think about different paintings. And big, excited smiles because there is going to be a Monet exhibition at the Art Gallery in October -which includes Waterlillies.
• DH and I stayed in the city last night and then went for a wander around this morning. Its been a while since I have been into the city so I really enjoyed seeing how much its changed in parts and just looking around at all the shops. And I did manage to buy myself a new wallet and handbag. My other handbag has been driving me nuts for a long time – maybe because there’s no room for my stuff in there with the cricket balls, sunscreen, McDonalds toys and a few other bits and pieces in there that belong to the kids. Needless to say, I went for a larger handbag this time. Yay can’t wait to use them.

So there has been lots to smile about this week. And I am enjoying the time without the kids – I get to be me for a few days rather than just Mum. And the kids get to spend time with their grandparents which is great while they are still happy to do it – it probably won’t last long though.

I hope that you all had lots to smile about. Don’t hold your breath but I may get photos posted of the new handbag tomorrow.

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 Well its been a couple of weeks since I have done a Smiley Saturday – not intentional but my Saturdays seemed to be missing a few hours. I looked for them and couldn’t find them anywhere.

Today is a bit on the slower side thank goodness. It’s school holidays so I don’t have to get the kids to rugby and gymnastics. Ahhh, some time to sit and do a blog post – now that’s heaven isn’t it?

Well, there has been a few things to smile about the last couple of weeks so here goes with some of them:

•  Tiger did his first ever trumpet solo at a lunchtime concert at school this week. There was quite a few of the brass players performing and they all performed the pieces that they have chosen for their exams in May. Needless to say I was a Proud Mum.
•  Daisy found out that she has actually been practicing her bar routine for her first gym competition in June – she let out a big sigh of relief.
• I’m loving Uni – I know that might sound strange but I am already getting so much out of it and its only my first semester of study. I already have a much greater understanding of what I am doing at work, and confusing DH with accountant-speak – oops.

Lightening in her post today has asked us to think about what we are grateful for. I have watched the video and made a list of all the things that I am grateful for. Its great to stop and think sometimes about what we have rather than what we don’t.

I hope everyone has a great Saturday and lots to smile about.

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I hope that everyone is having a happy, safe Easter. And not eating too much Chocolate.And now this is for Kelley and everyone that reads her blog and has expressed their hate love for the Teletubbies, because they are so annoying cute. I found this:

Enjoy!!!!Happy Easter everyone.

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Well its that time again – Saturday. How do they get here so fast?? Its been another week almost and so much has happened.

So now onto Smiley Saturday – which is the brainchild of Lightening. She has  instructions here if you have never done a Smiley Saturday post and want to know how.

Its been a tough, busy week here, but doing a Smiley Saturday post is great because it makes me stop and think about what has made me smile, rather than dwell on the negative, and that is always a great thing.

•  Tiger had his last cricket game of the season today. They won the game by 1 ball – yes 1 ball. And they won against the school that my Dad and brothers went to – nothing like a bit of friendly family rivalry LOL
• Whilst Tiger and his teammates were playing their last cricket game, the Mums indulged in a Champagne breakfast, complete with champagne, strawberries, rockmelon (canteloupe for overseas readers), cheese, croissants – plain and chocolate filled, muffins and almond and apricot crispbreads. Mmmmmm yummy and good fun. Oh and in case you’re wondering, the champagne was diluted with orange juice and we didn’t even drink a whole bottle, but it made for a fun morning.
• We have just ordered Daisy’s new leotard for her to compete in gymnastics competitions. She has recently started extra training on a Saturday afternoon and loves it. She is excited about it and grinning from ear to ear – me, I’m not so sure whether to smile or fall down from the shock of the cost of a leotard and tracksuit. No, seriously, I am grinning from ear to ear for her.
•  DH had a major breakthrough this week – he came home one night and told me he was cross. Now at face value this might sound awful, and certainly not worth smiling about, and thats understandable. But it is worth smiling about, because it is the first time in a long time, if ever, that he has vocalised something like this to me – normally he clams up and won’t say a word. So, you can teach an old dog new tricks
• I actually did this post on Saturday, not Monday like last week. Things are looking up.

Thats about it for this week. I hope that you have had at least one thing to smile about this week. If you need some inspiration, pop on over to Lightenings and she has this wonderful Mr Linky thing set up so you can read everyone’s Smiley Saturday posts – there should be some inspiration there somewhere.

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No, not a person, a bracelet. A charm bracelet to be precise. If you read Bettina’s blog, then you’ll see the one that she got for her birthday. Or you could go to the Pandora website and have a look at the different ones there(click on the links to see lots of different ones).

When it comes to birthdays, some of you drop subtle hints, or leave lists of things that you would like for your birthday and hope that you get something on your wish list. Me, I went a step further. I took the kids to the local jewellers store that sells Pandora and showed them exactly what I wanted. Then I told them that when they came shopping with their father for my brithday present that’s what I wanted. That and only that. Oh and I also mentioned it at Christmas time too so that there was no chance of the rest of the family being unsure either. In case you weren’t sure, subtlety isn’t one of my strong points.

So DH and the kids went shopping and outdid themselves. DH bought me the bracelet

and a charm from each of the kids. This one frim Tiger

And this one from Daisy

This is where the problems start. Because it was my birthday DH wanted to make sure that he had something to give me rather than an IOU. So he bought an 18cm bracelet. Which fits me but doesn’t allow enough room for the charms. So, I need a 20cm bracelet.

I have been waiting for 3 weeks for a replacement bracelet. The jewellers can’t tell me when it will arrive. They told me that I wasn’t bound by my order for the larger size so if I could get the bracelet somewhere else then that was fine. The bastards won’t give me a refund. So I am stuck. And cross. I have to get it from them and wait.

I am amazed that Pandora are unable to tell the retailers any kind of a time frame for when the stock should arrive. It seems that because their bracelets are popular they can bask in their own glory and not worry about their customers. We just have to wait while the popularity inflates their ego. And they don’t respond to emails either.

If I could get a refund i would go and buy a different brand. Come to think of it I could, the jeweller stocks at least one other brand. And give Pandora the flick. Because I hate when businesses treat their customers like idiots.

Edited to add: Just before I published this I rang the jeweller again and they still don’t have the bracelet in stock, no idea when they are due in and I am not obligated to buy from them just because I have ordered from them. I told the girl on the phone the whole story again and she is going to talk to the store manager and see if they will do a refund for me. I’ll keep you posted.

 Edited Again: The jewellers have just rung back and they will give me a refund. Yay, victory. So I will start investigating where I can get the bracelet.

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