Cousins

This is just a really quick one, I'll be back with more photos from the weekend soon.

Things have settled down somewhat at work. There are some people that have been compelled to get involved and respond to me in a not so positive way, even after trying so hard to keep the incident quiet. I did expect it to happen though, I have been there long enough to know exactly what is happening, would happen. I suppose its human nature to pick a side (even when it’s got absolutely NOTHING to do with you) and you don’t need to be Einstein to realize it’s in your best interest to pick the more powerful one (the boss’s)! In the meantime, I am trying to get on with things and hope that the bully of the office will get bored with me and move onto someone else…. SOON! It is definitely time though to seriously look at moving on. I am so sick of getting to work and walking through those doors wondering what temperature it is going to be and whether I should be ‘rugged up’ or not?
On a much brighter note: I have two beautiful cousins Lynda and Debra whom I absolutely adore. We have all become really close since Joe and I and the kids moved up here from Victoria in ’93. We don’t often get together, but when we do, we really enjoy each others company. After talking about it for months, we finally set a date to meet up for lunch at Debbie and her gorgeous husband, John at their beautiful home in Ipswich. This was the first time we had been to their ‘new’ house since they bought it after losing their stunning homestead and everything they owned in a devastating fire a few years ago. Even though it will probably never feel the same as being in the home they spent the best of 10 years not only building, but sacrificing so much time, money, sweat and tears on, they realize life goes on and it sometimes gives us lemons – some of us get really sour ones, but it’s what you do with them once they’re given to you that will then define the path you walk once the dust settles and everyone else goes back to their ‘normal’ lives and you’re still left with the bitter taste in your mouth. They have come to terms with their loss and are focusing their attention on each other, their children and their passion for traveling, but I’m sure at times in the quiet of their minds, scenes of what could have been, should have been are still waging a war in the background of their more reasonable selves as I'm sure is true with anyone who has experienced tremendous loss in their lives.
We had a beautiful time together, catching up on what everyone has been up to and what our respective children are doing with themselves. Debra out did herself in the kitchen, our lunch was delicious. - steamed fish with sundried tomatoes and lemon, roasted vegetables and fresh salad. I was so full, my tummy was aching. Then came the fresh fruit and chocolate clinkers! That was what put me over the edge, because I couldn't find a yellow one, I had to keep trying until I did. (don't blame me, thems the rules)!

How special!

This is just a quick one.....I know, I can hear your relief from here after my last effort.
I wanted to share the beautiful email I received from Michelle Caccaviello after their 40th birthday celebrations for her hubby Ken on the weekend, which I did a slideshow for - I'm sure she won't mind.


Hi Joanne

I just wanted to say everyone loved it. Ken thought it was great.

I will give you a call but it has been very busy. We had rellies over last night and it was 10pm before they left and we were just so tierd and today I really wanted to find my home as it is like a tornado went through it but I had a very important job today, my nephew turned 18 and his sister and I made him a guitar cake and we had another big night. It is a mad week we have a birthday every night this week from kens on Saturday to this coming Saturday thank God Thursday is free.

Anyway I really wanted to let you know that Kens party was absolutely fabulous I read Kens letter to him in front of all his guests I have no idea where my courage came from but I did it. I am not sure if they were all just being nice but they said it was beautiful, and I have you to thank as your words inspired me. I really wanted him to know how loved he is by all and for him to feel so special and he sure felt it as he was in tears and they started with the DVD which was before I read my letter.I am truly grateful Joanne I don't think you know how much I do appreciate your input.

I wanted to reach Ken so deep and for him to feel more loved than he has ever felt before, and for his 40th to be one he would never forget,and with your help you made my wish come true so thank you so much we had the best party ever!!! It was magical for Ken and I never expected it to feel so good or believe we could have so much fun, I wish you were there to see how much your work can affect people. I cant thank you enough.

I will talk to you soon, thank you with all my heart.

You are AMAZING!!!

Love Michelle

So now I'm afraid this is going to turn into a thank you fest!
Michelle, thank you for taking the time to tell me how special your night was and attributing some of that success to me.
Believe me when I tell you that it is a labour of love and to have you love it and tell me so is a huge added bonus.
I truly adore this work and I strive constantly to improve my techniques so I can continue to be apart of making even more people as happy as you Ken were.
Thank you again for your kind words and thoughtfulness and don't forget to send me some photos of the night.

WARNING, WARNING – This post is a novel!!

Hello........I can't believe it's taken so long for me to get back to you - sorry, sorry, sorry!!
You know that thing called LIFE; well it just seems to take over.
It’s been too long…but now I’ve got so much to say. WARNING, WARNING – This post is a novel!!
Saturday 12th April
Happy Birthday Brett – we called him early this morning before we headed out for the day. I was afraid we were going to wake him, but no, the little trooper was at work on a Saturday and on his birthday – there’s some Telstra linesman dedication for ya! Apparently there is a lot of work on after the big storms that Melbourne had last week.We were thinking of you little brother and hope it was a good one? Enjoy the coming year because you officially turn ‘old’ with the next one! The big four-0!

This is a layout I did to celebrate Brett's birthday!

Well it was my third week at Tafe. I am really not happy with so many aspects of the class and I’m glad that it is such a short course. It was supposed to be the last class next week and I’m so disappointed with the whole experience, from the ridiculous FrontPage program to the tutors inability to teach.
I am getting so frustrated trying to source this damn program; every time I turn around I'm hitting a brick wall. I wish I had of realised the program being taught before I enrolled.
To top it off, the tutor phoned me on Sunday night to say that he thought a 4 hour class was too much for 'some of us' and even he is finding it difficult to teach for that long.............can you believe that??
I sit there for half the class writing email while I'm waiting for him to catch up other people who are just not getting the concepts!! Agggh!!
Now he wants to not only shorten the class to 3 hours, but there will have to be a 1 week break in between because he is committed to another class in Brisbane!
I thought he was committed to THIS class. I really feel like sending an email to complain.
Although the course is going from bad to worse, I've decided to stick it out till the end and take what I can out of it and put the rest down to experience.
After him phoning me and asking if it was ok with me to shorten the length of the class to 3 hours, Joe dropped me off on Saturday at 9, and then when it got to 12 o'clock nobody seemed to be moving. I asked him if the class was finishing at 12 or 1 today. He said, Oh, 12 but I'm happy to stay if everyone wants to. Grrrrrrrrrrr.... I couldn't stay; I had Joe waiting out the front to pick me up!!! So I had to go and everyone else happily stayed on. Now next week he has 'other commitments' and can't take our class, so we don't go back until the following week for 3 hours (supposedly), then back again the following week for another 2 hour class to finish off - then I'm done with it and the end of course questionnaire will be a pleasure to fill out, I can assure you of that.
With all that done, it was quite a busy weekend – after Tafe, Joe and I went to Westfield at Helensvale and met up with Jo, Aaron & Madison for lunch. It was great to just relax and chat. After we finished eating, Madison went off to the bookstore just across from where we were sitting and Joe and Aaron went and had a wander, leaving Jo and I in peace for a few minutes, to talk – I love that about Jo, I always feel a real connection when we get together, she values my opinion and I appreciate her sense of rational perspective. She’s a great Mum of 3 and she adores her kids but doubts her mothering constantly and as we all do, blames herself when one of them gets out of line. So she gets to ask questions about what it was like for me raising my 2 and I try to reassure her that she is doing a great job under very difficult social conditions and that they’re great kids with the potential of being great grown ups. It’s the hardest job in the world, one that never ends, regardless of how old our children are.
We got home from there around 3:30, made a cuppa and settled into our respective corners for a couple of hours. Joe watched the footy and I had a play on the computer……….have I told you how much I love Mr. Mac???
We ended up just heading down to the Arundel Tavern for some tea. It was a nice meal, a glass or two of red and some very stimulating conversation. We really do enjoy each others company and we appreciate the time we get to spend together. We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in June this year and I can honestly say I am more in love with him today than ever before and I know the feeling is mutual. Awwwwww…ok, enough of the soppy!!
Sunday 13th April
I finished the 40th DVD slideshow last Sunday and popped it in the mail on Monday. Thankfully it had arrived by Wednesday – still cutting it a bit fine for Saturday night’s party. From all reports though, it was an outstanding success. My gorgeous sister in law, Anna, who was at the party, sent me a quick SMS message today that read:
‘You did an excellent job with the photos, we are so proud of you. Michelle loved it and Ken was rapt!”
Those words were so nice to read and I’m very grateful to her for taking the time to let me know that. So thanks so much Anna, you know how much I love you!

This is the covers for Ken's 40th birthday slideshow and photo collection.
Michelle wanted to include a letter that she wrote especially for Ken for the night, which I printed on the DVD cover layout on the back.

Sunday morning – up before the birds as usual! We had to get organised because Cheryl was coming to visit. She’s been in Brisbane since Thursday for a Stampin Up conference that finished on Saturday night. So we had organised months ago to spend some time together on the Sunday – today.We had a cuppa and a quick catch up chat, I got to show her lots of stuff I’ve been working on, because she’s is such a great ego booster – always really positive and encouraging about my work. She is just as clever and does some amazing work herself, but doesn’t give herself any credit.There is something about friendships that span decades, the O’Bree’s have been apart of our lives since before Joe and I had our children, we have worked together, holidayed together, laughed and cried together, there is not much that we don’t know about each other, so even if we have little or no contact in the longest time, when we get to see one another it’s like family, so comfortable and safe, a genuine, beautiful feeling of special love.We got to catch up with Emily at Pacific Fair where she works and had lunch with her when she got a break. Emily is Cheryl and Matt’s youngest and very special to us. She is the most amazingly confident, bubbly, passionate young soul, with an infectious laugh and thirst for life. When Jessica was born, Emily was so incredible with her; it was beautiful to watch them together, a really special time that I look back on with the fondest of memories.
Anyway, getting off the track, Emily and her boyfriend Stu, only live at Coomera, literally 10 minutes up the highway from us and I can’t remember the last time we saw them. We are all disgusted with ourselves for leaving it so long but with saying that I know she knows that we are just up the road if she ever needed us for anything we would be there without question.Cheryl had a travelling buddy, Donna, with her who had come for the conference as well, so after lunch we organized to get together for dinner the next night then left them to their shopping and headed off to Ian, a friend of Joe’s from work and his wife Lisa’s who live at Bethania, about a half hour drive from us. We had afternoon tea with them, Joe and Ian talked work for a little while then we headed off home at around 4:30 – we had a really simple tea and got to be early – that was our weekend done!

After Joe took this photo of Cheryl and I together, Cheryl requested I do a glamour shot... not too sure if I succeded, but I think we look just fine!

Tuesday 15th April
It is 10:15 on Tuesday morning and I'm writing this email from home. Why I hear you ask are you not at work?? Well! Let me tell you about the day I had yesterday.....
Monday morning is alway a blah day; it's hard to find the motivation to get into the mind set of WORK especially after a jam packed couple of days away. But let's face it; the majority of us have to do it every week.
So I have settled into the morning, sorting out in my mind how I would tackle the tasks of the day ahead. I've been able to enjoy my first coffee and things were going well.
This was the day I had to send out all the email with the new 'meter reading' system. Last month was the first time I had used it and with it came numerous wrinkles that needed ironing out. With the help of one of my boss's I finally completed the month of March by the 4th of April! The billing period ends on the 27th, so I was quite a few days overdue, but nonetheless with it came the opportunity to learn - and learn I did.
So yesterday I was feeling a lot more confident that things were going to go much more smoothly this month.
The initial sending procedure is quite monotonous, but compared to the last method, I can put up with a little monotony. So I had started approving each of the email as they were coming up. In the background the sales team and the directors were coming out of their weekly Monday morning sales meeting – I sit at my desk with my back to everyone, so I didn’t see any of them; I just heard them as they were going past. The next minute one of my directors (the one that helped me with last month’s issues) came up behind me and said ‘Ah, it’s THAT day’? Then he proceeded to slap my right arm with a flat hand very firmly and kept doing it until it started to sting my skin.
My shoulders lifted to my ears trying to get away from the strikes, but I was pinned in between my chair and desk and had no where to go, I couldn’t even turn around so he could see the pain on my face. I said quite loudly, but not loudly enough to direct the attention of the entire office – ‘Why are you doing that’?? With that, he gave me a punch on the same arm, then a squeeze of my neck and then proceeded to start slapping me on the other arm.
I repeated my question this time a little more loudly, “why are you doing that to me”?? He simply said, “I’m just getting your arm ready for the day” (because of the repetitive nature of the job, I’m assuming). He then asked me something about the procedure and I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t, all I could do was take deep breaths to stop myself from screaming. He then simply walked away. I sat there rubbing my burning arms. I could feel the heat coming of them while sitting there in complete shock at what had just happened. I honestly did not know what to do. I got up to go to the bathroom and when I got there just stood there in front of the mirror trying to figure out what had just happened. It was a totally random unprovoked shocking attack, but unfortunately I wasn’t thinking quite that rationally yet. My mind was racing having not the slightest clue what to do about it – if anything. Should I just go back to my desk and keep working? Should I go back to my desk, pack up my things and leave?
When I got out of the bathroom, my sweet mate Siggsy was standing there waiting for me. He had seen me walk past his desk on the way to the bathroom and new immediately something was not right, so he waited until I got out. I walked over to where he was standing and just fell into his arms and sobbed. He had no idea what had happened, but knew it had to be bad for me to react the way I was. I tried to explain it to him, but I couldn’t explain it to me so I don’t know what he thought had happened.
While Siggsy was comforting me, the other director – who had witnessed the whole thing – came out to go to the bathroom and saw us there. He asked was I ok and I said no, that he had really hurt me. He just said he didn’t know what to say, then went to the toilets. I told Siggsy that I would be ok and that I would just go back into the bathroom and wash my face. As I was walking through the door and said, “Yeah and take some of those deep breaths”, demonstrating one for me as he said it. I copied what he had done and he said, ‘yeah, just like that’!
Just as I was heading back to my desk, I saw Colin walking towards me. I honestly didn’t want to deal with it. I didn’t know what to say. I could see how sorry he was from the look on his face and I told him that I knew he hadn’t meant to hurt me and not wanting to make a scene about it, said I was ok and I just wanted to go back to work. I lied. I wasn’t ok, all I could do was think about what had happened and why. It kept playing like a movie over and over again in my head. Then the phone would ring and I would have to take a deep breath and not cry while I spoke to who ever it was.
At around 12 o’clock Colin came up to my desk and placed quite a large pot plant on it. I was on the phone, so he just kissed my cheek and said, “I’m so sorry and I’m very embarrassed about it all.” And with that he walked away to let me finish the call I was on.
When I finished on the phone I just sat there looking at this pot plant. I don’t even know what it’s called. But it was quite large and looked expensive. I thought to myself. Why would he do that – now every time I look at this thing, I’m going to think of how I got it! I picked it up, took it out to the front reception desk and left it there. I didn’t take it home.
I got through the day and prayed for 5 o’clock to finally arrive.
I beat Joe home which doesn’t normally happen. He had been held back by a storm that had hammered the area he was in only minutes before he was due to finish work. So when he did get home I made him a coffee and relayed the events of the day. Anyone who knows Joe, will know his exact reaction to the news I was telling him.
After a few not so nice words we of the English speaking language use on many different and varied occasions…I’m guessing you know which one I mean? He told me he was going to go and see him NOW!
I managed to convince him that it would probably not be in anyone’s best interest for him to do that and it would be, in my opinion, wise if we had a little more time to process the situation and perhaps slept on it. Needless to say, he was dealing with a lot of mixed emotions. He was very angry, but also really concerned for me and how I was coping.
We had completely forgotten about our dinner date with Cheryl, Emily and Stu, so Joe gave them a call to let them know what had happened. I decided that we would still go, that Cheryl is a good enough friend to understand the swollen eyes and red nose, the result of a day of crying. It ended up being the best thing we could have done. We had a really beautiful meal and enjoyed their company so much. It was sad to say good bye. Cheryl leaves for home on Wednesday night, so we probably won’t get to see her again before she heads back.
But we are hoping to get down to them in October for their middle child Danny’s wedding.

We didn’t sleep too well last night, I couldn’t get the days events out of my mind and wondered whatever road we chose to take, if it was going to be the right one.
I told Joe that I was happy just to go to work as normal and try to forget it ever happened, but unfortunately he was not done with it.
He phoned Colin at around 7 am and asked if they could meet somewhere to talk. Colin told him 8am at a little café at the Sorrento shopping centre.
Now I was nervous, now there was no turning back, now it had to be dealt with, one way or the other. I truly believed the ‘other’ would be me looking for another job tomorrow.
Joe headed off at around 7:30 and then I waited………..
He got back home around 9am, he told me that everything went really well and that he was happy that he went. He relayed everything that was discussed, about how dedicated I am to the company and my job and to both him and the other director, Alan. He told him that it was unacceptable behaviour and that his wife should not have to be subjected to that sort of activity while she is in their employ, not by anyone, especially a director of the company.

Joe’s the sort of bloke you want in your corner when everything turns to crap. He just took over and was hell bent on dealing with it. He never backed down for a second, he wasn’t out of control angry but he was firm and let it be known how strongly he felt against the unprovoked, out of control behaviour I had encounter yesterday. Actually confronting my boss was very brave and we had discussed the fact that it could cost me my job.
On the contrary, Colin told Joe he would not want to lose me and that I was a valued member of the team. He also said that my role within the company is in the process of changing direction, which I already knew anyway and it’s what I’ve been waiting for for a long time.
So things ended on a positive note and after having the day off today and getting it all out and down on paper (so to speak) I feel confident that we handled it the best way we could have, united and with the absolute love and respect for each other.
Tomorrow is another day!
I am very proud of my man, I admire and adore him so much. xx