Melt down!

It finally happened, after two and a half months of learning, listening and labouring, it all of a sudden hit me.

I was feeling a lot homesick!

All it took was one of our staff to come into work in a bad mood and all those weeks of non stop on the go madness had brought me to my knees.
She single handedly managed to change the whole atmosphere of the place and I could feel myself getting more and more aggravated about it.

It was really bothering me, a lot more than it should have and all I kept thinking was -
'How dare she'!!! How dare she come in here with a dark cloud hanging above her head!
What the hell has she got to be angry about - she gets to leave once her shift is finished, she gets to go home to her children and hug them and kiss them and talk with them, she gets to have a social life that includes her leaving the four walls of her home and then she gets to sleep in in the morning, she gets to have familiar faces around her, ones that light up with love when they see her arrive.

I get to do none of that - bitter, I hear you say?
Do I sound bitter? I suppose just at that moment I was a little bitter, but I'm good now, I'm over it and have been able to put things into perspective. Even though we're enjoying the change and the challenge, it's inevitable that every now and again we, me, are going to feel the pressure and loneliness of being away from all that is familiar to us.

Another one of our staff rang me the next day to ask how I was, I told her I was fine and that I was having a much better day, she asked if I was busy, I told her I wasn't, she asked if I was in the office and I told her I was. She then said good, I'd really like to come and see you, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes.
I was really worried, I didn't know why she was coming or what it is she wanted to say to me, of course I thought the worst, so I just kept myself busy until she arrived, but then when she got here, she carried in a box and said this is for you, I've been thinking about you all morning and wanted to do something to cheer you up - she had potted me half a dozen plants, that she obviously grows and in one of them she had written a note and attached it on a stick, it said:
Here's a little bit of colour to brighten up your day!

How nice was that? It was a really lovely thing for her to do. I'm going to buy some new pots for them and put them on my little verandah, that will give me something to care for, since I'm feeling a little obsolete in that area without the kids close by.

We had some really exciting news this week. The company have asked me to do some design and printing work for the whole chain. They need tickets for some new products and also some advertising material. They've bought me a new Canon printer and an A3 laminator and delivered them here yesterday, but with my experience in printing, I've asked if it would be possible to get some prices on a professional colour printer, which they've allowed me to do.
I phoned Andrew who I used to work with at Konica Minolta and he's going to see what they have available in our price range down there and if all goes well, will organise to have it delivered up here - I'm very excited about it all.

They've also asked Joe and I to set out a new menu for the chain. They have been taking notice of the interest we've taken in our current menu and the steps we've taken to make some changes to us and with that the success and the feedback we've had.

Here are some samples of what we've been doing:

So all at Calliope, Central Queensland is well at present.

We have another trip home to see the kids next weekend, which is giving us both something to look forward to. We haven’t had a day off since we got back from the last trip away.
I spoke to Jo last night and since we have missed some family celebrations in the past few weeks, we’re going to go and do something special together to make up for them – which includes Aaron’s 13th birthday (Godson) – he’s now an official teenager and yes, we should all be worried!!

Happy birthday for the 1st of September, we love you Az!