Mayhem, Moments & Mentions

Mmm, before we get started I realise I must acknowledge that my last post was almost three weeks ago - yes I know, shocking!  Also, apologies for the length of this post - one of the pitfalls of not posting for almost three weeks!

 

Mayhem

These last few weeks have been a wee bit busy around here.  At work, I've been ridiculously busy with the planning and organising of one of THE biggest days of the year for where I work as well as for me personally (more about that later).  On the home front, His Handsomeness and I are moving house this coming weekend so have been immersed in all the tasks that that involves.  Yes I know, just over a week out from Christmas - it's all or nothing here!  Suffice to say, things are a little crazy around here at the moment, but dare I admit that I do thrive on a bit of a challenge - and yes, I know I may regret those very words!  I have a plan and am focussed firmly on next week when it will all be behind us.

 

Moments

I mentioned above that one of the biggest days personally for me at work this year happened last week.  A bit of background to get into the story.  I work for an organisation with over twenty thousand staff spread across many sites throughout the country.  Each year, suitably deserving staff can be nominated for a prestigious internal award.  The senior executive then determine if the winner(s) are worthy.

 

In my site of 700 staff, only one person was deemed worthy/suitable for this award - that person was me!  To say I was honoured is an understatement.  What made the award even more special for me was that last week, the man at the head of the the organisation where I work (he's numero uno out of 20,000 plus - we'll call him the great leader) came to my site and whilst visiting, presented me with my award in front of a large number of staff.  I have never felt so proud and honoured.  I was presented with a certificate, a trophy and a beautiful gold watch.  After the awards ceremony the great leader thanked me personally for my work and insisted on buying me a drink while we chatted.  I'm still on cloud nine about the whole affair!

 

Mentions

Also during this last week, the lovely Kirsty from My Home Truths mentioned, or rather tagged me in a blog post about five ultimate Christmas wishlist items.  Now I know I should be wishing for world peace and no hunger etc etc, but the rest of this post has all been about moi, so why change the theme now?!  Anyhoo, in the spirit of the tagging, here's my five ultimate Christmas wishlist items...

 

1:  An apartment in Melbourne as I just lurrrrve the eateries, shopping - hell, I love everything about Melbourne.  An apartment in Paris and Tuscany wouldn't go astray either!

 

2:  To be able to spend time with my very dear friend Tracy in England - we would sooo have the bestest time wreaking havoc on all and sundry!  Hey, if I had the damn apartment in Paris it would be a day trip to visit!

 

3:  A Porsche (the 4wd one).  Sleek, fast and sexy - it would have to be black too!  It would be a fast day trip from Paris to see Tracy!

 

4:  Marriage equality here in Australia.  After over 23 years together, it would be lovely if His Handsomeness and I could legally marry in our own country.  And honeymoon in our various apartments of course (and visit Tracy perhaps)!

 

5:  A full head of thick brown hair!  Don't laugh, I'm just being practical here - a follically challenged man would get a cold head in those northern hemisphere winters!

 

Now that I've shared my five ultimate Christmas wishlist items, I have to tag up to five other bloggers to share theirs - it will just be two, as the others I intended to tag have already been tagged!  Over to you...

Scarlet Words

 

Tune into Radio Carly

Do you have an ultimate Christmas wishlist?  Please share below, 'coz I'm nosey like that.

G. xx

A whine (yes, with a H)

You'll have to excuse my slackness dear reader as I'm posting this photo for the challenge a day late - as such, I have just smacked my own hand!

June Photo A Day - Day 5:  Sign

The photo prompt for yesterday was sign.  Now I do need to tell you a bit of background about yesterday so that you understand the delay in the photo.  Oh ok, I'm offering up an excuse for my slackness (and perhaps having a bit of a whine!).

Yesterday I attended an all-day work conference.  The thing is though, the venue for said conference was a 3 hour drive from home and I had offered to arrive early to assist with the setup!  So I was up at 4.20am and on the road just after 5.00am.  I made good time (there's a lot less traffic at that ridiculous hour!) and was at the venue by 7.40am.  We were ready to go at the start time of 9.00am.  The conference concluded at just after 4.30pm and then I stayed to assist with the pack-up.  My trip home was dreadful to put it nicely.  There was traffic galore as well as a severe storm.  Suffice to say I arrived home just after 9.00pm.  Anyhoo, my excuse is that as I was in a conference all day and was exhautsed once home, no photo was taken.

So, on my way home from work today I took a photo of a series of signs on the train that I'd honestly never noticed before.  There were like 9 signs including no smoking, no animals, etc.  The one that amazed me though was the one pictured below.  I mean, who gets on a train with a chemical cocktail?!  Perhaps I'm just too naive.  Anyhoo, here's my sign photo.

Just doing my job

Have you ever had one of those truly speechless days dear reader?  I did today.  Now that is a big call for me as anyone who knows me will attest, but alas, today I was left speechless and dare I say it, teary almost.

My boss had confided in me that she was moving on (so to speak) however this was announced officially at a management conference last week.  Now I have a lot of admiration and respect for my boss, and we have a great relationship but I was totally unprepared for what happened today at work.

My boss and I publish an e-newsletter each week to over 700 staff, so imagine my surprise when as part of her announcement to staff that she is moving on, she devoted a whole column in the newsletter to praising me.  I had no idea she was doing this and was taken aback as I feel that I am simply ‘doing my job’.  Suffice to say, I was a little moist in the eye area at the fact that I had not only received such recognition, but that it was in effect, in front of over 700 staff.

Now I have to confess that praise is something that I don’t handle well, so today has been a day of mixed emotions.  I’ve felt elation (and a tinge of embarrassment) at the praise I have received, pride at the recognition for a job well done, and sadness at the fact that soon I will no longer be working for such a great boss.

So there you have it, my take on an unexpected day.  Have you ever received unexpected praise?  How did it affect you?  Please share your story as a link or a comment.

I'm baaaaack!

Hello dear reader – I am still in the land of the living!  I know I’ve not posted in a month, but I’m now back at the helm of this blog so normal transmissions are resuming.  Apologies for this lengthy post – but hey, it has been a month!

So, where have I been?  Well it’s been an interesting month to say the least.  On the personal front, the lovely Wayne and I have been living at my parents’ house for the last month dog-sitting whilst they were swanning around Europe.  On the professional front, I’ve been prepping for one of the biggest events in my work year – delivering a management conference for 230 staff at the organisation where I work.  Hence the reason(s) why my poor blog has been neglected.

Dog-sitting

I’m sure I’ve covered this elsewhere in this blog, but the lovely Wayne and I live in a unit with a smallish courtyard – not entirely conducive to pets shall we say.  So, as my parents were heading off O/S for holidays, their little dog needed minding so it was easier for all concerned for the lovely Wayne and I to stay at their home for the duration of their holiday.  No drama I hear you say.  Well for all intents and purposes you would be correct dear reader.  I mean to say, what trouble could a little mini-foxie cause right?!  Now this little dog (named Sari) is a gorgeous little girl, BUT, she is almost 16 (nearly 112 in doggy years) and as such is now sadly starting to show some signs of aging.  She’s a lovely little girl but is starting to get a little forgetful occasionally with regards to her toileting.  Now this isn’t normally an issue as my (retired) parents are there to ensure she has regular trips outside.  Things don’t necessarily work as well when Sari’s carers are working full time!  Suffice to say the lovely Wayne and I became quite au fait with floor cleaning and disinfectant!  That aside though, she was a model charge and was very well behaved indeed.  This brings me to something else about our stay at ‘the folks’ house.  Now I have to say this (sorry mum & dad), but their internet service is crap!  And after a few failed attempts I simply couldn’t be bothered.

Work work work

Coinciding with our sojourn at my parents’ house, I’ve been working on one of the major bodies of work for the year that I do – a management conference for 230 staff.  Despite the pressure and long hours, it was a very successful event, timed as it was to coincide with my parents’ arrival home.  The ever dependable lovely Wayne collected his in-laws and delivered them safely home (thanks babe).  This year was very different to previous year’s conferences as it was conducted completely electronically.  My national director has heaped praise on me for delivering something that has set a new benchmark for such conferences within the organisation where I work.  This of course could not have been achieved without considerable support and assistance from a number of people.  These include my boss of course who supported me and allowed me to be creative, as well as a few select others (you know who you are).  Two people that deserve a special mention are the lovely Wayne for his patience and for making sure everything at home ran smoothly considering the hours I was putting into this project, and someone who I admire and respect because she just manages to ‘do it all’ – she never says no at work despite being a mum to three children, two of whom are special needs.  So thanks Kirsty - knowing that you had aspects of the conference covered was both appreciated and comforting.

And so there you have it dear reader, a summary of the last month in the everyday life that is Being Gawee.  If you’ve made it this far with this massive post, well done!

A Building, Boots, & a Cabinet

Well yet again I've had a couple of crazy days this week so haven't posted my photos for a few days for the February Photo A Day Challenge.  Now that the week is over it's time to catch up.  Oh yes, I've also themed them all black and white - I honestly hadn't planned that, the photos all just happened to look better in black and white.  A total coincidence!

#FebPhotoADay - Day 22: Where You Work

Wednesday's theme was where you work.  Now I could have concocted a delightful story about how I'm a secret agent (think 007) and that if I showed where I worked, I would indeed have to kill you, but alas, I have a far less exotic office job.  So here you have it, the office block where I work.

#FebPhotoADay - Day 23: Your Shoes

Yesterday's theme was your shoes.  Oh what to do.  Those that know me know that I have a penchant for a nice shoe (well pairs actually!) so this was difficult.  In the end I settled on one of my fave pairs of boots that I purchased at a rather nice shoe boutique in Melbourne, and that I wear to death.  They are made of black denim with leather trimming and are very comfortable too.  I'm often complemented on them also, so my taste can't be too awful can it?!  Anyhoo, here's my shoes...

#FebPhotoADay - Day 24: Inside Your Bathroom Cabinet

The theme for today was inside your bathroom cabinet.  Now this was interesting as I wasn't sure how to approach this.  I figured I had 3 options.  Option 1 was to have all manner of dreadful things on view (keep yourself nice), option 2 was to have all the nicest toiletries in the house strategically placed on show, and option 3 was to just open the darn doors and snap a pic au naturale.  On a Friday afternoon after a long week at work, option 3 won hands down - no effort required...LOL.

#FebPhotoADay - Day 20

The theme for day 20 of the February Photo A Day Challenge is Handwriting.  For today's photo I asked my workmates to handwrite the word handwriting on a sheet of paper.  I even wrote it with my left hand (you can tell exactly which one that is!).  I then photographed the sheet of paper, did some magical editing, and voila, the photo below.