Bea

my mother is going to kill me for missing out on these flights; also, you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it for your own eyes

No lie. 

All flights were RETURN, TAXES INCLUDED.

Oh, grabaseat, how you have hurt me so.

i don't know how i ever found the time to work: unemployment is exhausting, you all.

Things I have done this week that I could not do last week:

1. Went to a 5:30pm showing of Julie and Julia by myself, had a glass of wine.

2. Had a nap at 2:00pm in the afternoon.

3. Went to a 3:00pm showing of Coco Avant Chanel, with a friend, had a glass of wine.

4. Read Seth Godin's Purple Cow, in one sitting.

5. Worked HARD on getting $122 tax incl return fares to San Fran, then Honolulu, then $73 tax incl return fares to Hong Kong, but did not get any tickets. Had a glass of wine.

6. Got a hair cut at 11:45 am. 

7. Went to pick up my 'leaving present' at the old office - a new printer! Is it weird that I'm excited by that? Probably.

8. Had dinner with two girlfriends. Had a glass of wine.

9. Washed the bathroom floors during the 2-hour power cut. Needed a glass of wine.

10. Cleared out my office in preparation for all the 'working' I'm going to be doing.

Like you wouldn't have had the glass(es) of wine if it were you.

office gossip: he's just not into it

The end of my contract last week has launched David and I into a bit of unknown territory. For the first time in our marriage, we're both self-employed. 

This means there's no steady pay-cheque, we're both working from home and we're churning through coffee like it's going out of style. We're still working through some scheduling issues, and noise can be an issue in our 80sqm home. But overall, it's working.

Because of the industry I've worked in, I enjoy day-time banter. In fact, the industry depends on it. I'm talking to save the business. You're welcome. David's industry doesn't get this. His conversations have a purpose and an outcome. To be fair, he's much better at building purposeful relationships and rapport, I'm more of the type to chat just to make a new friend. This is probably why David networks better than I do. 

So when we find ourselves in the kitchen at the same time, I'm all ready for 'how's your morning going? what's up on the weekend?', he's all '[insert insane look at me like he can't remember who I am. I'm your wife, that's who]'. It's all business, make the coffee, look out the window, head back to the office. 

Do I have to start networking with my husband? I think I need to draw a line there.

It appears part of this working at home gig will require me to, like, go out and stuff. Seeing and talking to people is essential, both to my sanity and David's. I'm off to the big smoke tomorrow, to see people and talk and other social things. I'm REALLY looking forward to it. And this is only day 3 at home. 

No one will be more surprised than me if we make it to 90 days without have a 'appropriate coffee-time conversation ' argument. 

If you work from home, how to do you balance the work and your relationships? Do you miss the water cooler chat?

Swim, then run, then bike, then collapse (Life List: an update)

As some of you may be aware, number 8 on my life list  is to complete an Olympic length triathlon. OLYMPIC length. Meaning, Olympians do this. And before we go any further please let me clarify that I am NOT AN OLYMPIAN. 

The full race involves a 1500 meter swim, 40km bike, and 10 km ride. In the USA, this means a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and a 6 mile run. Ridiculousness, I know. 

The training schedule is a 12 week programme which ramps up the distance and time for each of the 3 activities each week. This means that we do not get a break, we do not get a rest, and we never feel like we are getter fitter as each week gets harder and harder. 

I say 'we' because I have a girlfriend who has agreed to do the triathlon with me. Or rather, she forced me to agree to do a sprint triathlon with her and I said, in what must have been some drunken stupor, SPRINT SHMINT WE ARE WOMEN WE ARE STRONG LET'S DO AN OLYMPIC LENGTH! I have been off the vodka since. 

Can I tell you how much my legs are begging not to do the final run of the training week on a Wednesday afternoon? And how, when I return, my legs are all WE TOLD YOU WE ARE TIRED and give way before I can step in the shower. Oh, the bliss of rest on a Thursday. And then, like some perverse swedish hot-spa-to-ice-bath, the difficulty of jumping in the pool at 6am on a Friday. 

To be fair, despite all of my whining, I'm pretty impressed with myself so far. I have missed just one training day, largely due to an irrational and emotional reaction to an event in my professional life and resulted in my skipping the required 60 minute cycle and instead sitting in a hot bath with a glass of wine. The two are so similar, it's hard to tell them apart. 

We are half-way through the training schedule and therefore half-way to the race. I am still dubious as to my ability to complete the run after the cycle, but am doing my best to trust the anonymous expert who wrote the programme. They wouldn't lie would they?

Today is a quick 35 minute cycle. The cycle isn't the hard part, going out in the rain is. 

Providing amusement for drivers in my neighbourhood. 

look, it's my last week at work and so this is as good as it gets for now

Come next week you'll start getting sick of me. What with all the free time I'll have on my hands and the case of tequila, I'm sure the writing will just flow.

Until then, here's another attempt at making the best of my wardrobe.

White Jeans - Farmer, NZ

Pink T-shirt - Forever 21, USA

Blue Jacket - Marks and Spencer, UK

Blue Leather Bag -Gap, Canada

It feels like something is missing here - what? I dunno.

What are you wearing these days? Favorite buys lately?

Work-from-home closet - how do you get rid of jeans?

I'm a lazy dresser monday-friday, but it's easily explained by the work uniform I'm required to wear. But I'm also lazy on weekends, and with looming work-from-home-permanently coming up, I know I can do better than jeans and a t-shirt.

Susan from Friday Playdate has an easy style I really like - it's a little preppy, but I like that too. Ok, and I'm jealous of her hair. Check out Susan's closet, I'd order straight from there if I could. If imitation is a form of flattery, I flatter:

There's no smile, but that's not because I'm unhappy - it's concentration. I think the white blouse is too plain, and because I don't have a full-length mirror you don't get to see my chanel-esque ballet flats. Still, it's better than I usual Saturday morning garb.

Let's not talk about the hair. WTF?

Cardigan - Glassons (who in NZ does NOT have this sweater in at least 3 colours?)

Shirt - Old Navy

Chinos - Country Road

Bag - Primark (really!)

Necklace - Le Chateau

there's only so many life-chages a girl can make (aka no, i'm not that brave)

Before:

Bleh. Tired, flat, boring.

After:

Better?

Perspective always comes 24 hours later

Sat in a café. Sweet chai latte. Florentine.

***

Sometimes these goals of mine, they can become a little overwhelming.

Evidence to the fact: me, 5 kms from home, running on a country road, crying, angry and pissed off that it’s another 5kms to get home. The sudden realization that I am in the middle of no where, that no-one but me is to blame for me being here, and that no-one but me can get me to where I want to be. How’s that for a metaphor for life?

Mighty Life List

Maggie has a great idea, and man is she making it work for her. Have you seen the things she’s done lately? Don’t you want to be a part of that? Me too! I think one of the scariest things about having life to-do lists is sharing them with others, because then you feel accountable to achieving those goals.

I’ve always felt that my life should and could be more……astounding, amazing, thrilling. But that sort of life doesn’t happen by accident, right?

So, without further delay, here’s the starting list. New Years’ resolution? PSHAW.

1. Start my own business

2.     Attend a main-stream fashion show

3.     Go to Puerto Vallarta with my best friend

4.     Go snorkeling in Rarotonga

5.     Cycle the Otago rail track

6.     Visit Stewarts Island

7.     Travel business class to Canada

8.     Complete an Olympic length triathlon

9.     Have a glass of champagne…in Paris.

10. Take dancing lessons

11. Take singing lessons

12. Make myself a skirt

13. Buy a house in Canada

14. Have a campervan holiday in Australia

15. Walk the Tongariro Pass

16. Visit White Island

17. Run a half-marathon

18. Take a holiday with my parents

19. Go for a pint with my brother

.....to be continued !

What's on your list?

20 days and counting.

Two days ago, a friend commented that I must not have long to go before I finish my contract. Automatically, I denied that it was just around the corner and was honestly convinced that I had AGES to go. I mean, I was given EIGHT weeks notice that the contract would be ending.  Which sounds like a lot of time to plan what comes next. All of a sudden, though, there is just 20 days left. 15 of those 20 are ‘working’ days. Holy. Crap.

When I first mentioned my business idea to David he was very enthusiastic about the idea, but a little dubious that it could be developed and launched by the time my contract ended. I can’t say that I graciously accepted his feedback. I may have cried. I mean I can do anything, right? If you put your mind and will to it, don’t they always say that you can achieve anything you wish? What they don’t say is that you can’t always achieve what you wish in the timeframe you need to though. 20 days isn’t much time left.

At this stage I need to have the product delivered and the site developed, along with 987987394 things on the to-list, before I can ‘launch’. November 1^st is looking like a hefty goal, but I’m pushing for it.

I worry that I’m not thinking about the details enough, that there’s a cost I haven’t seen yet, that I don’t know enough about the industry, competitors, regulations, finance and a myriad of other things that could cause this idea to blow up in my face. And clear out my meager bank account balance. 

This is where you come in. I need you to be eyes and ears I don’t have, and pass on the advice you wish you had received in those early days. If you’ve had a business, started it on your own, whether there is just one employee (you!) or 100 employees, what do you know now that you wish you had known then?