A hairdresser I can go back to

Tried a new hairdresser today: Woodville Cutting Edge @ Woodville Shopping Centre (Warringa Crescent, HX).

What led me to give it a try was a positive review of the place on the WOMOW website, where customers give a business a good or bad review based on their personal experience. When I called to find out the rates, I was quoted $27.50 for a wet cut (i.e. they dampen your hair, cut it and blow dry it - no shampooing).

My hairdresser was Brooke, who gave me this new look. I wanted something that would give me the option of keeping my hair long; she recommended long at the sides and shorter at the back, with a side fringe. She suggested I get my hair straightened as well - at a total cost of $40 - to get the maximum benefit from The Look.

Took me a few hours to get used to my new image, but I like it now. :-)

BEFORE

AFTER

PS. Golly, I sure look my age: wrinkles, crow's feet and all! Guess I am well and truly middle-aged. LOL

Times of Refreshing

Am letting myself be spiritually refreshed listening to Michael W. Smith(MWS)'s A New Hallelujah DVD while typing this.

I love this one which he does with Israel Houghton -

He sees your tears
He fights your fears
Hold on
Help is on the way
Help is on the way
He said he'll never leave you or forsake you
Stay strong
Help is on the way
He said he'll help you
Just reach out and take his hand

As a musician and an introvert, I really admire musos who play brilliantly and through their body language send out the message that they LOVE what they're doing. Like Michael our drummer at HXUCA - and MWS and his band.

Wish I could be less inhibited and more unafraid to express my joy and praise. Why am I so afraid to be myself??

TV for believers

A dear friend from my primary school days told me about a YouTube video in which Eric Moo talks about his Christian faith - wow!



In it, he sports a new look which I thought was platinum blonde (eew!).

Until I heard him talk about growing out his white hair over a period of 3 months and how God is the best hair stylist.

The more I listened to him open up about his personal challenges and make fun of himself, the more I thought: he seems a likeable sort of guy. I must admit I've never particularly liked him even though I enjoyed some of his xinyao songs. Maybe his rather kiam-pa face and early arrogance and all that goss involving Jazreel Low have prejudiced me somewhat.

Or maybe he's a different Eric from when he started out.

In the process, I discovered a new TV channel for Christians: GoodTV. Am going to check it out often.

Xinyao From The 80s - Another Song, Another Sad Love Story

I Get To vs. I Have To

Love this article I read in Runner's World.

Instead of saying "I have to", say "I get to".

Instead of -

I have to clean the house, I have to fetch the kids from school, I have to go to work,

say -

I get to make my house clean and tidy for my loved ones and guests.

I get to fetch my kids from school and listen to them chat about their day.

I get to be paid for a job I enjoy doing and to help with my family's finances.

Because somewhere out there is a mum who would love to do what you do, even the most trivial and mundane stuff, but can't because she is fighting cancer and has just months to live.

When you say "I have to", you feel grumpy, stressed and resentful at all the burdens you have to manage.

When you say "I get to", you feel grateful, appreciative and have a positive perspective.

The Simple Savings Challenge

Beth and I looked through the Simple Savings website last night.

It was fascinating to watch her scroll through the tip sheets and actually take in the info.

I think I know what I want for my 40th: a subscription to the Vault! It costs $47 and gives you access to ALL the tips suggested by readers over the years.

I'm getting excited thinking of all the $ that I can save if I just start implementing some of the tips. Maybe I won't have to go back to work at all!

I've been resisting buying things that I just happen to see at the supermarket, and to make do with what I have in the freezer/pantry/fridge. Yesterday, I spent just $28 on meat and nuts at Tasman Meats, our supply for the week. Hubby loves the cashew nuts, yay. For dinner last night I made chicken soup using one of the chicken carcasses (3 for $1), plus carrots, potatoes, garlic and a tin of organic cannelloni beans.

Unfortunately, hubby has not caught on. He still buys potato chips and cookies and Dip-Its just because he happens to be near ALDI when Beth goes to jujitsu on Mondays. Oh well, better one of us spending than two!

For afternoon tea, I made a batch of banana-blueberry muffins from the overripe bananas in the fruit bowl, and added ALDI blueberries. They tasted good, although Beth wanted to know why the muffins were all sunken in the middle!

Today I made scrolls using frozen puff pastry, tinned fruit, almond meal and crushed peanuts. All from stuff I already had in the pantry and freezer. Note to self: make sure fruit is completely drained so it won't make scrolls all soggy!

Earlier in the month we trialled Aussie Farmers Direct. Love the convenience and being able to support the farmers, but the prices!!

Am staying away from those money-suckers Safeway and Coles as far as possible, and making ALDI our pitstop of choice. Hubby once found Excel study guides at $2 cheaper than our usual bookstore.

With ALDI you have to be vigilant because the specials change all the time and once they're sold out, you miss out. Anyone who wants to save $ has simply got to make ALDI their first choice for groceries and staples. Every time I leave the checkout and examine my docket I feel SO happy, like I've spent my $ well and lived responsibly. Very important when you're a one-income family with kids!

Getting Off FB

I am taking an indefinite FB break.

It's madness, like being on a treadmill that you can't get off. I can spend hours reading other people's postings but never being able to catch up with all the energetic Facebookers who use it to market their products and services and every now and then announce that they are now at 1,555 likers or whatever.

Wish I could do the same, and believe me I did try for a few months, but it's exhausting and the results are not guaranteed. I haven't made a single FB sale, although my fan count is now a healthy 102.

The only people who buy from me are still people I know personally.

Maybe that's the way for me: just keep talking to people and being myself and suggesting organic solutions where appropriate.

Where I Would Rather Live

Visiting Bundoora last Sunday made me think about why we chose to settle in Hoppers Crossing and where we might have lived if not for the fact that my cousin lives here. Hubby and I agreed that we would never have settled in HX.

We took the kids to Bundoora Park after church. They had a great time trying out all the different playgrounds (there are three at least), visiting Cooper's Settlement where they cuddled guinea pigs, watched other kids ride ponies, tramped around the barn with ducks and chooks, and had tea at the Farm Cafe.

Afterwards, we drove around the La Trobe Uni campus. How much has changed! A few minutes in the direction of the M80 Metropolitan Ring Road is the new University Hill development: a mix of housing, retail and office units. You could live, work and shop there, wow!

The open space across from BM Guesthouse - our home for a whole month when we first arrived - has been beautifully landscaped, and Springthorpe Boulevard, which was then seeing a construction boom, is now completed. Every house looks different from its neighbour, the estate has been thoughtfully laid out and has such a welcoming, aspirational feel, yet there is also a sense of glorious isolation. We are talking about being off Plenty Road and 18 mins or so from Melbourne, but you could be in the country if you didn't know better. Bundoora Square is across the road, and there's a new shopping strip with an Indian grocery store, but within the boundaries of the campus, there are heritage bungalows still used by the Uni. The pond that we used to walk past and watch ducks swimming is still there, and Gresswell Wildlife Sanctuary looks as remote and forbidding as ever, a contradiction in the midst of contemporary upper-class residential living.

From Bundoora, we drove 5 km along Grimshaw St into Greensborough, where we used to enjoy visiting the Plaza and trying out the eateries along the main road. We revisited our favourite Vietnamese restaurant - Linh Linh - with its tacky artificial flowers, painted white bar counter and the bathroom down a flight of stairs.

If I could choose to start over again in Aus, I would live in...Geelong.

It's the second largest city after Melbourne, with great schools, facilities, infrastructure.

It's 40 min to Melbourne, minutes to the beaches, the Great Ocean Road is down the highway, there's a ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento, the gorgeous waterfront and Botanic Gardens, V-Line to Melbourne, Geelong Grammar School. If you want a tree change, somewhere like Highton would be fantastic, with its hilly terrain and amazing elevated views and closeness to the Barwon River. Everything that you need to live comfortably can be found in Geelong, minus the crowding. The best thing about the Geelong lifestyle is driving away from the City when everyone else is trying to get on the Westgate Bridge on a workday.

If hubby and I could find jobs in Geelong, I would gladly consider uprooting again. I checked the real estate prices yesterday and they are still affordable, considering the proximity to water views.

Imagine being able to walk to the beach and enjoy all the green spaces and fresh air and ocean views, but without the Brighton price tag. Now that would be a seachange worth considering.

How NOT to run a market stall

Had my second crack at running a market stall today.

While I had mentally psyched myself to detach from the outcome and to just make this an exercise in gaining exposure and developing conversation skills, it still felt GALLING to sit there for hours with people just swishing by with barely a glance at my table.

Some bypassed it altogether.

Perhaps the worst was having people actually STOPPING to look at my products - while I was across the room having a chat with another stallholder, and unable to get away for fear of being rude!

Cost of hiring stall: $20
Time spent packing, setting up and unpacking: 1 hour (assume $40)
Time spent at market: 4 hours ($40 x 4 = $160)
Revenue: $xx
Nett revenue after subtracting cost of my time: $ -xxx :(
Gain from embracing fear, trying something outside my comfort zone and chatting with strangers and friends: PRICELESS

FB Experiments

A week after enlisting help from other FB users, the fan count is up to 86.

Amazing.

Am having fun checking out other biz pages and posting favourable comments about their products and services.

Perhaps I am more suited to building up other people's businesses rather than flogging my own.

Chatted with hubby today cos he was home sick. He asked me the usual pointed questions about business plans, working for others vs. working for self, how much $$ return I was getting on my marketing efforts etc. Felt depressed and low for a while and talked to God about it on the way to pick up Beth.

Have no answers for now but am praying that He shows me what He would like me to do.

Work for someone ...again? Maybe it's time to dust off the CV and start looking around. A part of me looks forward to interacting with like-minded professionals in a nice office somewhere in the Big Smoke.

And having spending money to call my own.