If There's One Thing in My Life That's Missing....

Friday, May 23, 2014 - still in Malaysia :)

It's the time that I spend alone.... That's the nice thing about a trip like this for so many of the parents. They get to sleep. They get to walk. They get to play. Alone. Or together. But with themselves as the main focus. That's been the inspiration for the LRB song running around in my head today.

I'm lucky... I get that a lot in my real life. Time alone.

Today has been a day of complete relaxation. Up at 7:30 (before alarm).  Breakfast in the fine dining room (free). Walk across the street to the Zen spa for a massage, foot reflexology, and a manicure (my hands needed some TLC after the gig last night). Back to the hotel for a swim, some lunch, and a round or four (so far) of Sea Breeze cocktails (vodka, cranberry, and grapefruit). Then a nap near the saltwater pool (dip, nap, pee, dip, nap, pee, dip nap, pee... The toilets are a little walk away from the pool, so I am counting that walk as a cardio component to my day). Now, I'm in the air conditioned room (turned it down to 22 for a few minutes) and writing to you.

It is a tough life.

Last night we enjoyed happy hour and then went to a market style dinner. The dress theme was sarong. :) Perfect. Have four to choose from.

After dinner, the Wen and Bendy gig went off. We played for about an hour and a half. Started late and had a midnight curfew. Though I reckon the staff would have let us keep playing as long as we wanted to. They apparently were all in the back of the crowd videoing us. :) We got lots of amazing compliments last night (inebriated) and today (genuine) and one or two people have said that last night's gig has been their trip highlight so far. That's nice, isn't it? Still... They have two magical days to go... I'm sure more fabulous things will fill the experience with more warm fuzzies.

Transactional analysis. Funny memory. Warm fuzzies and cold pricklies with parent, adult, and child... Emotions? Roles? Something... My mom read TA books and I learned those things from a long, long time ago. Weird that I remember what I remember.

Friendships with lots of these wonderful people have formed since I earned my first incentive trip in 2008. The partners, the candle people, the parents (makes me wish I could earn more than one visitor and bring my mom and dad, too), the adult children... They all form a really neat friendship circle all across Australia. It's pretty cool.

Well, we're almost at the end of the first part of our journey. Tomorrow we pack our bags and move a few kilometres away to a place called Georgetown. There we will be at the Eastern & Oriental hotel for the weekend. Apparently there is a beautiful shopping district in Georgetown. I'm sure the majority of our PartyLite group will be extremely happy about that.

Oh! I forgot to mention that at last night's dinner, it was announced that I was in the top 10 of points achievers in this motley crew. That makes me a "Princess" here and  we get room upgrades and I get a special dinner out with the other nine Princesses. I'm pretty chuffed actually. Happy because my points came from selling, sponsoring, AND leadership development. All really important parts of my business.

I got my first Pandora bracelet as a result. With a beautiful pearl of Penang charm. I'm sure just the start of the collection.

What's iPad tonight? Don't know yet... Gonna finish my fourth sea breeze and then have a think about it.

Stay tuned....

Welcome New Subscribers!

Hi. I've been doing a little bit of marketing work today. Even for this, my WendEmail blog. I love sharing a few tidbits every now and again to keep connected with my friends and family in the USA. I also realise that some of the people here in OZ are interested in what I'm saying. Probably in case I say something about them....

Well, today I will.

Parties

We had a lovely party here at our place on Saturday. It was a celebration of our good friend Karen's birthday. About 20 of us drank and ate and talked and laughed and sang and were sung to for about 12 hours. 2:00-2:00. Our neighbours are saints. They have never complained about our parties.

Of course, once the deck goes in, and the parties become more frequent, the anonymous notes in our mailbox might start to come.

So, to Karen, we hope you had a happy, happy birthday party in your new found home down under. To Richie, thanks for bringing her here to us. To Kat, thanks for having such a cool bro. To Paulie, thanks for your iPod, your gee-tar, and your friendship. To Colm, thanks for coming after getting called into work on a Saturday. You arrived and everything lifted even more. To Ange and Dee, thanks for cheering the Swannies to victory while the rest of us huddled around the heaters outside. To Benny-boy, thanks for finally escaping the Welcome to join us and share in the festivities. To Jadie and Kanga, I so wish I had a camera to take a picture of you as you sat in the last rays of sunshine. To all of Karen's Aussie (and non-Aussie) friends - what a great day!

Thanksgiving

The fourth Thursday of November is always the date for the great American holiday, Thanksgiving. This is our favourite American holiday and this year, we've decided to make it one to remember. We've invited the US to come to us. My mom, dad, brother, and cousins, Pete and Ali will be joining us for a turkey dinner to remember.... I can't wait!

Music

On September first, we're going to put some tickets up for sale to a fabulous musical event on the Harbour. On Sunday, November 21st, my band, Little Big Horn ("LBH" with Ben, Mark, and Vince) will be joined by my dad "Uncle Buck" on sax for a three and a half hour harbour cruise with live music, dinner, sunset and a full moon. Wayne and Rosie will start off the musical festivities and then LBH will do a couple of rockin' sets to finish the night. Let us know if you want tickets. We would love for you to come.

Bed

And now, it's time for me to escape to bed. Copper has already gone in. Alan is snoozing north of the border at a work do. I've a big day tomorrow in my candle business: a leadership workshop that I'm really looking forward to.

Stay tuned for The New Deck Part 2 (see Part 1 here). It hasn't been written yet, because it hasn't happened yet, but the before shots are coming....

Forty Eve

Well, here I am on the day before my fortieth birthday. It's St Patrick's Day in Sydney. Not yet noon. Alan is at work. I am in my bathrobe. The dogs are asleep behind me. There's plenty to do.

But I thought I'd write instead.

This morning I woke to a slight sore throat. Maybe it's not that slight. It is definitely a sore throat. I'm also feeling very tired. I think the partying and entertaining has caught up with me a bit. It has nothing to do with age, it has to do with lack of sleep. I remember feeling this way at 16, too.

"Forty is the new 20!" That's what people have said on most of my birthday cards. Well, I don't really know about that.... I'm just pretty happy to be healthy and employed and in love and surrounded by friends. My age doesn't matter. Those things matter a lot. I think people are just trying to say that we're as young as we feel, but we all know that's not really true. We're as young as our birth certificates say we are and that's really all there is to it.

So I'm about to be 40.

At least it was a great excuse for a party!

Here's a list of things you might want to know.

• I just redesigned my office. It's not complete yet, but the old furniture is gone, the walls have been painted, and most of the new furniture is in place. Walls need more stuff on them, attached sunroom needs painting, and one more piece of furniture is needed, but all is working and I'm really happy.
• Mogy has lost weight. He is now a healthy 30 kilos. He was almost 36. That is a great accomplishment and one that does have a good lesson for us all. If you want to lose weight... eat less. It works.
• Copper is hard to groom. He doesn't shed at all, but his hair is very hard to keep untangled. I work on a section each day, but I'm constantly playing catch-up, not doing preventative maintenance.
• Alan has started playing touch rugby. His team is called the Waboritas (after Sammy Hagar's recipe for Cabo Wabo Margaritas). They are good. He doesn't think I need to go see how good, though.... No witnesses.... Hmmmmm!?!?
• We are going on a two week holiday to the Alps and Italy in May. While in Italy we will be part of a group of 18 people in a Tuscan villa. My parents, my cousins, my friends, their siblings, their cousins. I anticipate seeing some beautiful countries and landscapes, fun, laughter, food, wine, and the continued development of lifelong friendships.
• Angela and I have both earned another free overseas vacation from PartyLite. This year we are going to Hawaii. Alan and Ben are coming, too, of course. I've not been to Hawaii before, so I'm looking forward to relaxing there for 4 nights. Short, sweet, free, and 5 star! Yippee!
• My calendar has appointments in it all the way through 2009. I feel as busy as I've ever been. I need to improve how I use time.
• My music stopped. My gigs dried up after January and that is the problem. Gigs are deadlines. Deadlines are my lifeblood. Without them, I am lost. I feel lost musically. (BTW, I do recognise the irrationality in that, too. I know that it takes practice and learning and practice to play well so that I can even get the gigs. I KNOW! Just do it, Wendy!)

And that's all I can think to tell you right now. If I think of anything else to say, I'll write another post. If you subscribe to this blog, you'll get an email whenever I add a posting. I don't write too often, so it won't fill up your email box or anything. Or you can subscribe via RSS if you're RSS-savvy.

Chow for now! WLC.

A Cold, Wintery Update

It might seem odd to my friends in Colorado that I'm cold today. The sun is out, the temperature is a crisp 59 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind is blowing at 11 mph. My friends in Arizona and Texas will understand.

I'm busy with my candle business. This month my goal is to sell $11,500 worth of candles. In Olympic-speak, that'll be a PB for me. If I am successful, I will earn 23,000 points toward my trip to Hawaii next May. That means I've earned enough points for me to go for free. I can then focus on getting another 23,000 points in January, February, and March so that Alan can go for free, too. Oh la la. Wai Ki Ki... here we come!

Mogy and Copper keep me entertained throughout the day. Copper is really a good dog. He is friendly, silly, and a bit of a comedian. He takes discipline well and does what we want him to most of the time. He's too tall for our current television height and doesn't really understand why we tell him to move when he stops in front of the TV. His quizzical look is priceless as we both yell, "Go!"

We invested in a TiVo like contraption last year. It's nice because it pretty much stops us (me) from sitting in front of the TV watching crap. I record musical, funny, or interesting shows and watch them commercial free when I need a break. I'm much more calm about the TV because of that. Still hate to waste time in front of it. There's not enough time to do all the things I want to do in a day.

I donated to Barack Obama's campaign today. My first political contribution. As an ex-patriot I reckon I see things from a different perspective to most Americans. Without hesitation, I share with you that I believe Bush and Bush policies destroy peace, prosperity, cooperation, and joy across the globe. Political relationships are strained worldwide. Environmental problems are worse, not better. McCain will just keep us on that path. Don't let Republican versus Democrat be your guide in this election. Let change be your mantra. Because we need it. We all need it. It scares me that the race is as tight as it seems. It seems like it should be a slam dunk for Obama to win. Why don't I see any good arguments for McCain? I can usually see both sides.

My music playing has slowed down this year. I blame Keith. Keith Newman was the drummer for Little Big Horn, and he's moved to Perth (that's on the other side of this little island). He was the LBH agent and he got us most of the gigs that we did last year. Ben, on the other hand, is working more than I've seen him work in a long time. His gigs are coming in fast and furious. Lately, he's even been doing an occasional double gig (six sets in two different bands) at the infamous Scruffy Murphy's in downtown Sydney. He's got gigs in Woolongong, Balmain, Bathhurst, and Sydney this weekend. Moral of the story: practice enough and people pay you to play. Hmmmm. Perhaps I shouldn't be typing this blog entry right now.... :)

Anyhoo, as a result I've asked Angela to be our agent. She's awesome on the phone, understands the industry, and is arm's length (OK, maybe wrist length, but what do they know) away from the band. She can offer a duo, a trio, the LBH experience, or any combo really. We'll see. I hope to pay her a lot of money as our agent. Go Ange!

I think that's all I want to say right now. Going to pick up one of my guitars and have a bit of a play before I get ready for tonight's candle party. Have a great day yourself and I'll catch up with you individually whenever you want me to. What's up?

Nora and Miles

Since Ben's Big Birthday bash, on February 16th, his cousins Nora and Miles have been gallivanting around Sydney, Adelaide, and Woolongong. Last night, Alan and I had the opportunity to host Ben, Peter, Miles, Nora, Ange and Ben for dinner. We served steak of course. Nora really liked the char crust seasoning. Here's the website: http://www.charcrust.com/! Tell them we sent you.

We listened to music, ate, drank six bottles of beautiful Australian red wine, and stayed up until way after 2:00 - on a school night. Of course, the only poor sod who had to go to school was Alan. Bless him, he got up without waking anyone and choofed off to work in a tie. That meant he had a customer meeting today - I hope it went well.

Anyhoo, here's a little evidence of our festivities; I threw one view of the breakfast we had this afternoon (sorry, Alan). Nora, Miles, Ben, and Peter - welcome to the WALL OF FAME!