32 years ago today ....

... I entered this world, no doubt screaming my lungs out and causing my mother a great deal of pain.

Not much has changed.

Except now I probably don't cause my mother the same amount of pain and I don't scream too much although I do talk a lot (those who know me will agree wholeheartedly). The only pain I cause my mother now is when I get a new tattoo and she sighs :D

My birthday always makes me reflect on the things I have done, not just because I'm older but because my birthday falls at the end of the year, so I always think about what I have done and accomplished in the year gone by.

This past year has undoubtedly been the single most eventful year of my 32 years to date. I have: bought a house, had a baby, sold 2 businesses, moved interstate, travelled overseas for the first time AND did it on my own, bought a new business, went back to work full time after 4 1/2 years as a stay at home mum, renovated said house, moved into that house, had a massive family Christmas and I'm still alive. I think the only thing I didn't do was get a divorce and thankfully that looks unlikely! ;P

2009 looks set to be another big year, with a lot more firsts, but I am hoping it will be far less stressful than the year I have just endured. I'm not sure I could ever do what I have done in a 12 month period again. No thank you.

I'm not big on new year resolutions but I do set myself goals every year. I know I am going to achieve the goals I have set for myself for the coming year, because I will not let myself fail. My drive and my passion are strong and my optimistic streak pushes me to always do my best.

I am thankful for many things that have happened to me this past year. Things that have helped to continually shape the person that I am. To all of you that have had a part in that (and I'm sure you know who you are), thank you.

I have a great feeling about 2009. It's going to be a great year. Mark my words :D

Wait a second ... it ain't over yet!

I just wrote a blog post about my year and then just as I was about to post it I realised that there are still two major events to occur this year so you'll just have to wait a few more days!

One of those major events is my birthday, so I'm hoping for a particularly bloody marvellous one this year!

We will return to regular programming soon ... I promise :D

Dear blog readers ....

I will write again. I promise :)

I'm just crazy busy doing this whole retail at Christmas thingy (it's my 17th year doing retail at Christmas ... I am insane).

I promise a blog post full of wit (or something that rhymes with that) very very soon!

<3 Spi :)

Flat out like a lizard drinking!

It's been an extraordinary few months and so much is going on at the moment. Working 5 and a half days a week leaves little time for socialising or relaxation and with Christmas rapidly approaching ... lets just say I'm flat out like a lizard drinking!

I have invested a lot of money into my shop and it looks amazing. The difference since I took over is awesome and the feedback I have been getting is fantastic. Next week I have a web designer coming to see me. I was planning on waiting until after Christmas to work on my site, but as fate would have it one Saturday afternoon shortly before closing I h ad some customers in who were just totally in awe of my shop. The following Monday I received a phone call from this guy who loved the shop so much than when he got home he checked to see if I was online. When he hit my site and saw the coming soon page he called me up to ask me if I had anyone lined up. I told him I had nothing set in concrete so he offered to come to me to talk about it! I was stoked. With time being so short, having someone willing to come to me is a huge bonus. So this week I will be meeting with him to start designing my site. I'm quite excited by this :)

My plans for the direction of my shop have been somewhat dampened however by this whole stupid economy at the moment though. I am trying to deal with a few international suppliers but it's damn hard with the dollar the way it is currently. I'm still going to go ahead, but I'm crossing my fingers that it's not TOO long before there's a bounce back, otherwise I'll have to come up with a new objective. Luckily for me, I'm not the most stupid person around so I am working on a few other more profitable (for the time being) ideas. Looks like I might be making a little trip up to Sydney again soon for one of these reasons :D

There's a few big trade fairs coming up, a massive one in Sydney in February and another in New York in March that I am going to try my hardest to get to. Just gotta get through Christmas first ...

So, it's all good in my little world at the moment, and I hope it stays this way!

I wanna be a kid again!

Wasn't life sooooo much easier when you were young? I mean, you lived at home, no rent or mortgage repayments, no bills, your mum did your washing, cooked your dinner and drove you around. All I had to do was feed the kitties and keep my room clean. I had a weekend job and any money I made was mine, all mine!! I paid no tax (cos I earned no money basically lol) and had zero responsibility.

Sure, I had relationship problems. I had an on/off boyfriend how was basically a total jerk, but I 'loved' him sooooooo much that I kept forgiving him for all his shit. The little jerk was such a wanker but hell he was cute, so .... ;P

He broke my heart, but a week later I had a new love. He too broke my heart, then I broke a few hearts, then ... oh I think about then I turned 18 and started to think and try to act like an adult!!

At the time I thought my life was so full of complications and problems and hassles! If only I knew what was to come ....

Retrospect is a wonderful thing, but geez it pisses me off. All those things I could have avoided if only I'd known. But on the other hand, hell I've had some fun making mistakes!

These days I'm responsible for 3 little kids. I'm responsible for feeding them, clothing them and keeping them happy and safe. It's the single most biggest stress of my life. Because I want them to never want for anything. I want them to always be in good health. I want them always to smile. I never want them to experience hurt. Of course, I know these things are inevitable.

Now I am the major breadwinner for our family my stress levels have gone through the roof. I think I now know what my husband has been going through for the last how ever many years. I constantly worry that I'm going to fail ... yet at the same time I have such ambition to make sure that I don't. My moods yoyo from extreme optimism to self doubt. I feel like a totally hormonal bitch at times, which is so strange for me as I am not your 'typical' chick. I've never had hormonal swings before.

So, yeah ... take me back to being 17 again ... hell it was easy back then!!!

Although, you know, with all that I have had and all that I have experienced ... all my heart breaks and all my loves ... all the people who have been a part of my life and helped to shape who I am ... all the conversations I have shared with those who mean the most to me .... most of these have occurred in the years since I became an adult. So, on second thoughts, maybe I am happy where I am, with the knowledge that there is more really good stuff (and really shitty stuff) to come.

One month down!

So, I have had my shop for a month now and it looks so different to the day I took it over. I am getting lots of feedback on how much BETTER it all looks now, which is totally awesome! I am at the moment organising a bit of a grand re opening of sorts for next weekend. There will be balloons and cookies for the kids and .... a face painter!!! I love face painting. So much so in fact that I will get my face painted on the day too I think! I'm putting a half page ad in the local paper next week for a little promotion, so I hope it brings in a few peeps and of course a few dollars :D

As usual, my mind is about 100 miles ahead of where it should be and I keep telling myself I should be slowing down and taking it one day at a time, but I have this ambitious streak that has hit me head on and I feel like I need to act on it. I suppose time will tell what comes of it all. In the meantime, I damn well hope this economy picks up, particularly the Aussie dollar against the US, as that has a fair bearing on a major element of my future plans .... definitely just have to wait and see there.

People are starting to buy for Christmas already which is good but also daunting! It's still October!!! Not that I'm knocking it! Bring it on, I say!!

Year 12 runs amok

It was Year 12 Muck Up day in town last night and the streets are littered with little polystyrine balls and shaving cream adorned windows! My shop escaped unscathed luckily! My window cleaner came in this morning and we got talking about the muck up day and it turns out that I went to school with his daughter! We got to laughing about her in her costume for the day which was a giant nappy! So funny. I remember her clear as day in that get up too! So I've been remembering my muck up day quite fondly. I dressed in my 'modified' school uniform for the night. I cut my skirt to just below my bum, had knee high black socks and high heeled boots, a white shirt unbuttoned to reveal a black bra and bright pink hair!! It was such a riot of a night. We stayed out all night drinking and causing havoc to the school and town, which we were then made to clean up the next day hung over as all hell! It was a good night. I remember a photo of me sitting on the edge of the basketball court with my hair in pink dreadlocks caused by flour egg and god knows what else getting into it! I was covered in permanent black texta from all the phone numbers of friends written on me .... making me laugh know as I think about those kids doing what I did some 14 years ago :D