Sparkles and Spectacles

Well another week gone - it's now less then 10 weeks  till we leave on our trip so starting to think about what shows we want to see on the cruise and what excursions we want to do while in ports.  We can book them  online in advance - apparently preferable to make sure you get to do what you want.  So Bloss and I doing a bit of contemplating!

Weight - stayed the same - think I need to get tracking again - while I'm not being 'bad' there's no doubt I'm probably not being as 'good' as I should be - but I am now entering week 5 without alcohol and that's got to be a good thing.

I got my diamond pendant back yesterday - think I mentioned that I had bought another diamond from the wholesalers when they visited recently.  Below is how it turned out - I'm absolutely delighted with it - he set the actual diamond in white gold claws which makes it really stand out.  He actually is a chainmaker to trade and so made the chain from some gold that I had.  So a very happy customer!

Had a funny phone call on Wednesday night - the phone rang and it was Josh (grandson No 1) when I asked how he was he replied not too good. Below is a sort of a replay of the conversation

Me - Oh no what's wrong
J - I've done the wrong thing at school and made some bad choices and really disappointed Mum and Dad and part of my punishment is to tell my granadparents what I have done.
Me - so what happened?
J - I've not been eating my luch at school and throwing it away and I lied to Mum and Dad about it. 
(he sounds so sad and dejected at this point that I'm nearly in tears)
I start to say something and J says - "but there's more!"
I think OMG what else has he been up to
J - I'm not allowed to play any electronic games (which rules out the Wii, my laptop and my Iphone when he's here) and there's to be no treats (usually after tea when they're here they get a sweet treat each)
So then I launch into Granny mode and say
"Well I'm a bit disappointed in you too but you know everybody at some time makes bad choices but you know the important thing is that you realise it was a bad choice and you learn from it and don't make the same mistake again. - do you realise now it was a bad choice?
J - Oh yes (fervently)
Me - and will you make that mistake again
J - Oh no (even more emphatically)
Me - and I'm guessing that what upset Mum and Dad most was that you told lies, Mums and Dads don't like lies!
J- Yes
So then I think he's done enough penance and ask him how the weekend was - and he told me how well the footy had gone.  Then he said that his Dad wanted to speak to me.
Grant came on and apologised for dropping this on me - said he probably should have forewarned me but figured my granny skills would come to the fore anyway.  Turned out that Josh has been pushing the boundaries a bit lately (as most kids do around almost 10) and he'd had several warnings and fianlly it was time to follow through on the threats one of which was to 'fess up to his grandparents - although they let him off after me.  Apparently he'd been packing it before calling and had his speech all written down before ringing.  Anyway I'm sure another of life's lessons learned for him.  Tiff texted me later and said she'd almost been crying listening to him at the other end!!  Ah the joys of bringing up children.

Another topsy turvy week at work - I'm in charge of arranging the annual Service Awards Function at work - I've beenn chuntering along quite nicely with my plans but was struggling to get decisions on a couple of items - namely the extent of the invite list and the gift - which is only really a token (everyone gets a sizeable some of money on their anniversary date depending how many years they've been there) but causes so much controversy - you know some of the people some of the time!! and so much angst to the person doing the organising.  This is the first year I've organised this particular function.  I had most of the event organised and booked but was struggling without the above decisions.  I had a hissy fit with my manager about a week and a half ago and he turned up trumps and made both decisions - leave the guest list as it was - good idea with only 5 weeks to the event - and give everyone a gift voucher to Bunnings.  However this came out at the weekly managers meeting - which he wasn't at - and they got stuck into his deputy- didn't like the idea of a voucher.  Anyway after some discussion between my manager and me we agreed that the best plan was for me to have a one on one meeting with the GM and explain it all.  So I did - it went well and in one of my rare inspired moments I mentioned an idea I had about the gifts going forward.  He grabbed that like a drowning man - had a discussion with his Ops GM and the most vocal of the complaining managers and told me they absolutely loved the idea and could I make it happen this year - I had been putting this idea forward for next year.  This is when you realise the value of building strong networks - with four weeks to go - my local supplier has come up trumps and we should be good to go.  So of course now you want to know my idea - quite simple really.  Give a set of half a dozen glasses to the award recipients but make them different according to the number of years of service and no logos - no one uses glasses with logos!
So
10years - wine glasses
15 years - highball glasses
20 years - wine flutes
25 years - port glasses
30 years - whisky glasses
35 years - decanter
and the GM is going to up the value after 20 years and again after 25 years. And of course it makes my life so much simpler for future years. 

Anyway waffled on long enough today - hope I haven't bored the pants off you.  Hope you all have a brilliant week.

Love Zxx



The pendant with the hand made chain





You can just see the white gold claws



I love that it's a bit different

Unfortunately this shows my chest wrinkles!!

My new Osiris glases

I do love a bit of bling

The black and white shot

My second pair - Tommy Hilfiger - these are for distance only - they were actually my first choice but not deep enough to do graduated lenses unless I paid another $200 so I looked around and found the Osiris paid.