Genuine mistakes do get made by everybody. I have made a few and although I don’t like to focus on negativity and knock myself down on a permanent basis, it can be stressful as you try to negotiate a resolution. Once upon a time I remember always living in one drama after another. Maybe it was something I said or did but I it was a constant feeling of guilt, panic and stress as I tried to solve my problems and everyone’ elses. Today I can’t specifically remember what all the problems were but as I have launched into my own eBay retail business one factor you need to consider is CUSTOMERS. Not all customers are nice and forgiving, most have high expectations and unfortunately you are in the mercy of their attitudes and  feelings and have no disregard to you as they hold the mantra “the customer is always right” and “I can contact A Current Affair” (not to me thank god but it has happened to a fellow estore collegue).

So upfront – I make mistakes. I am sorry. And I will do my best to resolve it.

So I was thinking of some past work mistakes that I have made and learnt never to repeat.

1. When I was 17 I started working for a supermarket at the checkouts. It was a responsible position scanning your groceries, making conversation and handling cash. I once had a customer return and say I had short changed him $50. Naïve and unquestioning and a little off guard, I handed him $50. Consequently my till did not balance at the end of the week. I had thought myself as a trustworthy employee and there are strict consequences to stealing so honesty and understanding what do in if this occurs again (immediate counting of the till with accounts before giving the customer money) was discussed with my employer.
2. In the early days of my corporate career, I need to design my own events flyer for a workshop I was managing. So what most of us do, I headed to Google and downloaded a few different flyers for ideas. Designed and marketed, the public started to RSVP. Unfortunately I had not changed the Fax number from a flyer I had copied. Hence another poor business started received almost 100 faxes RSVPing for an even they had not heard of. Very embarrassed. Apologised and promised to have further attention to detail.

In short

• While in the lab, I have misplaced samples, and forgotten to courier complete samples overseas for processing.
• I have given the wrong directions many times. One significant directing our overseas party to the wrong Washington airport (did not know there was more than one that are miles apart) almost missing our flights.
• I have downloaded market research reports without knowing my employer pays $100-$1000 for each report.
•  And recently, I copied the wrong measurements for a pet bed I am selling. The irrate customer is demanding a refund because the item is too small for his pooch. Better to give a refund then take nasty emails to heart.

So I am genuinely sorry and please know I will do my best to resolve it.

Best, Lxx

Many years ago when I was doing my research on the prevalence of Chlamydia in the koala population, I spent some time out at the Moggill Koala Hospital. Besides learning about the hospital, it was the volunteers that impressed me most of all. This hospital is one of many that accompany zoos, wildlife centres and sanctuaries and people volunteer their time to care for sick, injured and orphaned native Australian animals. They spend their rostered times cleaning out cages, feeding, collecting, data entry, supervise and training and reintroduction of animals back into the wildlife.

In addition to these groups there are the animal fostering groups who rescue dogs and cats providing temporary accommodation until a permanent home can be found. Thankless and loving tasks.

So I was very excited when I found online the innovative Cuddle ‘Carry Shirt. A specially designed garment pet carrier, this shirt can carry your pet in a special pouch. The pouch is designed so it sits between the outer layer of the short and the payer that is against you. Hold pets less than 10 pounds it is an idea garment for fostering small kittens, puppies or small bread animals.

I have imported a few select stock from the US in Medium and Large and Black and Blue. My stock is available for purchase on my ebay store under Pet Carriers: FaddySwoosh Pets.

Do you currently volunteer at a Pet Refuge?

Black with Dog Pet Carrier Cuddle n Carry

Kitten Pet Carrier Cuddle n Carry Shirt

Don’t say to me “I don’t know how you do it?” because I am not really interested. It pisses me off actually. It does not feel like a complement. More like, “I am glad it’s not me” kind of comment. It is about six weeks since the girls dad moved out and “I don’t know how you do it” is agonizing. The fact is I don’t want to be doing it on my own but I have too.  For the past few weeks dinner has been a massive stress. I enjoy my job and love my home but there is an hour and half distance between them both. So when I collect the girls from daycare, dinner seems an impoosible feat when I am tired, the girls are cranky, dirty and there is never anything prepared in the fridge. So after weeks of take out and crap for dinner I put action and made three little change that start this week.

1. Did my grocery shopping online. The relief was quite sad when it was packed and delivered to my kitchen yesterday.

2. Spent a few minutes looking at recipes and prepared a weeking Dinner Planner and printed it out and placed it on the fridge.

3. Hired a Babysitter to pick up the girls from daycare two days a week to help me out for a few hours with bath and dinner.

Simple changes but hopefully a start while I build some organisation and routine back into my life.

L

Hi Everyone, I will be back soon. I have just purchased my first premium WordPress Theme Headway. So will be taking some time out to learn how to use it! If you use Headway please email me and or send me some tips!

Back soon,

Lisa

As I write this post the sunshine is out and it is hard to believe what has been happening in Brisbane these past few days. After months of terrible weather, rain and rain – the floods started up north Queensland and slowly moved south to the catastrophe in Toowoomba, Ipswich and Grantham, Lockyer Valley and now Brisbane city. The statistics read that 75% of Queensland is now a flood disaster. We live an hour away now from Brisbane on the coast and have not been widely affected however the images that stream 24 hours on the television, and the constant comments from the social media Twitter and Facebook has kept it close to home. To date the official death toll is 14 with at least another 70 missing. Reports compare this to the 1974 floods but although we may have not reached the 5.45m peak (current peak is 4.46m) it doesn’t alleviate the numbers of houses, businesses and lives lost. So although the sun is out the city has closed and the worse is not over by a mile.

• The latest 24-7 Queensland Flood News can be access here.

• The Queensland Government has launched an appeal to help fellow Queenslanders affected by the recent floods. Many communities have been devastated. Some families have lost everything. You can help make a difference by donating to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal.
  

  Queensland Floods State Library. Photo courtesy of Queensland Police Services.

Brisbane Floods. Photo courtesy of Queensland Police Services

All mums are amazing whether you have had one or ten children (actually more than ten children these days sounds a little neglectful but that is for another blog post) but it is the multiple mums I love to hear from the most. At the moment we are all waiting to hear of the pending birth (false labour starts on the news everyday) of Princess Mary’s twin girls. As an Australian, Princess Mary’s life reads like a fairy tale. I am sure if I really knew her I woud understand her daily life is probably much more challenging than the tabloid reports but I can dream. Meeting her Prince at a pub in Sydney during the Olympics and then a world wind romance, wedding, castles and two babies… So I was delighted to hear the next pregnancy was spontaneous twins. Will she cope with four children under five? So far she looks radiant and healthy and now I can not wait to the magazines of when she comes home with twin girls.

Courtesy of Google.

The other famous mum I confess I love to read about is Angelina Jolie. Besides the fact like Mary she is drop dead gorgeous (do they really look like that ALL the time?) I really do wonder how both these women do it all. We have all heard of Angelina’s huge international brood and I would love to know how she does have the time to spend quality time with all six of her children while she makes movies, travels the work and does all her charity commitments. Maybe I am naive and really both Mary and Angelina have a number of nannies to do the “real” work. Real work as in lack of sleep while attending to babies all night long while wearing a perfectly unsexy nightie or bed time routines of cooking dinner (maybe Brad is the cook), feeding dinner to babies, dinner on floor and all over babies, cleaning floor, bathing babies, and lastly settling babies. For some reason I can not imagine either Mary or Angelina on their hands and knees picking up food scraps thrown from the high chair or negotiating with babies about how much TV they should be watching. But perhaps they do. That is one magazine article and photos I would read.

Courtesy of Google

Last of all the other mums is Australian Westpac CEO Gail Kelly. Ranked the 8th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2010, Gail has four children including Triplet girls. Starting as a teacher and bank teller, this Triplet mum is now the highest paid woman in an Australian corporation. Wow. I love hearing her story because she continued to build a successful career after having Triplets. No, when she had her family she was not famous and no multiples are not the end of the world. Your life does not just stop. If I decided to keep climbing that corporate ladder, I’d like to think of Gail and remind myself that It is OK to pause your career for a few years as there is plenty of time to climb that corporate ladder (if you want too).

Gail Kelly. Photo Courtesy of ABC.

Mrs Kelly says having children taught her the importance of balancing work with other parts of life.

“I really am a huge believer in work-life balance,” she said.

“Practices of flexibility, practices of encouraging people to live whole lives, those are principles for me that I’ve lived and believed in all my life and certainly been the recipient of myself.

“I have four children, three of whom are triplets, and in my life I’ve needed employers who were prepared to back me and provide some flexibility to me during different stages in my career. Reference: Market gives thumbs up to Westpac CEO appointment

Just because you have decided to be a mum, if you want to have a career, you can still do it. Multiples and all.

On Friday night I attended the book launch, by spiritual healers and Clairvoyants, K and Dr Michael Taylor, for their first book, “Dating the Messenger, The Untold Story of a Clairvoyant.” I met K and Michael back in June 2008 when they were holding psychic parties on weekends. Who would believe a short 20 minute reading for $35 would change my life. K invited the party to the weekly meditations they held at their home in Waterford. I was a little lost, sad and lonely at the time and I had been thinking that I would enjoy the benefits of meditation but I only thought it was something very religious people did while chanting. But the universe must have heard, as this opportunity arrived as I requested so without being able to negotiate with any family or friends to come with me, I went on my own.  I remember arriving at the unassuming brick suburban house for my first meditation. That night it was only myself and another lady who I have met many time since. A still have my journal with the first entry of that meditation which is now filled to the end with stories, drawings, numbers and interpretations of what I have seen since. Meditation has transformed my life as over the next two years I laughed and cried, learnt how to silence my busy brain, and made new friends as we travelled through the universe meeting Angels and Spirit Guides, ET’s, met ourselves in past and future lives, had magical healings, met with spiritual animals, and was just part of all the magic created and facilitated through K and Michael.

Like the book, I loved returning to these meditations as I was intrigued by K and Michael’s storytelling, the stories of the clients they meet, the odd and inspirational conversations with spirit, never ending work with the community and just being part of their business as it grew. Plus I was doing my own soul searching in my own life and meditation and meeting a community of people all on the same journey just seemed to fit.  A meditation these days is no longer the intimate group of four but has grown into two rooms with barely a seat spare and I expect it to grow to many more. I have only had one reading by K as I knew I had homework to do to sort out my life and I was comforted to know that this was also a theme in the book, Dating the Messenger. Everyone wants a quick fix to their relationships, financial, career and health problems but what differentiates these people are the ones who will do the yard yards to work on themselves.

Many years ago every employee at my workplace arrived to work with the book “Work Smarter not harder” sitting on our desk. I confess it is not my favorite professional development book but I do need tips to stop procrastination and better time management so there is one takeaway example in the book is to re-prioritize the to do list.  It is to do the things you least like doing first. For instance today’s work to do list includes (in no order):

• Review Non Disclosure Agreement from Company A
• Review Non disclosure Agreement from Company B
• Read Invention Disclosure Form, Contact Corporate Intellectual Property Management and notify them of new invention, Contact Patent Attorney and schedule meeting
• Read and provide feedback for Technology License Agreement with Company C
• Read and provide feedback for Technology License Agreement with Company D
• Look at blog statistics
• Check Hotmail
• Check Facebook
• Login to bank account to check if got paid.
• Imagine extra $zero in cash account
• Schedule next months bills
• Login to share account and visualize shares doubling in price.
• Quick market scan of share market
• Log onto Twitter – scan conversations,
• Reply to a tweet.
• Write blog post
• Read and respond to lisad emails
• Lunch
• Compare prices on dishwater and oven
• Make a coffee
• Visit babies in daycare
• Go for lunch time walk with colleague
• Call N
• Compare prices and book internet and phone for new house
• Email friends to catch up over dinner

So which ones on the list I should tackle first should be the ones I am actually being paid for which is the first five! Instead it is so tempting to procrastinate and do the remainder first. So adieu and back to work! After I get that coffee…

Last week I sent another Twitter call out to #LOA readers for another Law of Attraction in Action story. I received a lovely response from Juliana Joie from www.JulianaJoie.com.

I live the Law of Attraction. Whenever I notice I’m not feeling good, I shift my thinking to gratitude, joy, or love.  I could tell you about my body’s healing miracle or other awe-inspiring stories, but you might not take them seriously or believe they’re accessible to you. I want to assure you that you can manifest miracles, but for today, I’ll share about something a little closer to home–parking.

I always get excellent parking spots. I always have. At Chili’s, there’s a front row area that regularly has 1-3 excellent spots available.  I watch with puzzlement as others park in the side lot and ease my car in front of the door.

This also happens at Texas Roadhouse, where I practically have a personal spot. Once, a friend was driving, and I told him to slow down because the spot would be there, but he didn’t believe me, passed it by, and went on to park in the side lot.

Now I silently request excellent parking spaces, visualize them, and know that they will appear. There is no stress as I head into town because I know the parking will be effortless.

Why do I share this?

Because abundance is waiting for you. For me. For all of us.  We get to choose to have the front-row spot or to park further away. We get to choose to have a life full of joy and gratitude and love or to focus on something else.

The parking lot is an equal opportunity playing field. Each person in each vehicle can choose the parking space wanted.

If you enjoy a healthy walk, by all means, savor it.  I’ll be the rock star in front of the door.

I had approached my Aunt a few months back to see if she was interested in distributing her designer label in the markets in Brisbane.  My Island Baby sells very successfully across a number of markets in Sydney. Although she gets approached almost weekly by other shops for wholesale opportunities at the moment her plan is to “Keep it Simple”.

We did a bit of market research to see what markets would be the right ones for this product. We assessed their location, approximate thoroughfare, how regular the markets are held (weekly, once a month, once every four months) and what niche the market was in (lifestyle, farmers market, handicrafts, baby or trash&treasure). Over the last few months N, the girls and I went on little trips to see firsthand what kind of stalls each market had and whether the label would fit nicely and sell. On Friday was trial number 1 and these are the results.

Friday night Brisbane Southbank Lifestyle Market.

This was our obvious first choice market as it is the main market in Brisbane and held every Friday night and weekend at the Southbank parklands. The benefits of this market are you only have to set up and pack up once as the stalls are locked down every night. An additional bonus is you do not have to supply your own stall. On the Friday the opening hours are 5pm and you can’t close before 10pm. It was a long and cold night. Kathy and my cousin Jess had carried all the stock up from Sydney and spent hours placing the clothes on new hangers. A Friday night crowd includes families going out to dinner but it was mostly young people hitting the town for drinks. The aim of the venture was to test it, find where to go and if we make enough money to buy dinner it would be a bonus. It was interesting to watch the dynamics of other stall owners.

As we were only booked in on the Friday we needed to pack up for the next day at the Mathilda markets. We were the only ones packing up. As we rolled the trolleys down to the car a group of lovely women oohhed and arhhed at the displays. We had a sale! No make that two! Two sales by some sweet  ladies.