Today I ventured back in to my previous employment by request from the store owner. I spent 4 hours getting to know new stock, catching up with old friends & offering advice to parents-to-be & those doing it all over again. It was nice to be back in family territory & there was never a feeling of regret. I have in my short day been offerred without my asking to come back & work 5-6 days a week. However I have agreed to at least 3-4 during the sale & then a few days afterwards until our emminent move to Wollongong. The store owner is a very appreciative & respectful man & I have never worked for anyone so “Gentlemanly” in my life. I feel honoured to be asked to return to the store & when told I had been missed & that he wished I had never left, some feelings of guilt crept in. However I know the decision I made earlier in the year was for good purpose, regardless wether we moved or not.

In saying this, I am however still anxiously awaiting the day we apply for our Home Loan & make the move to our own new house. *Nudge Nudge*

I have failed to mention that I have recently posted my Letter of Resignation to the Child Care Centre I was working at through 2007. Thanks to the employers, I feel let down, used, abused & disregarded for many reasons. Credit must go to all the girls I worked with throughout the year & the wonderful friendships I have made from it. I hope to continue seeing these girls on a regular basis & will keep contact with each of them. I shall treasure our friendships forever.

Not that many people load my site these days, possibly due to my ignorance to sustaining interesting & current Blogs. However we have got a few changes coming to the site, a nice change for the New Year.

And with that, I must wish everybody a successful New Year hoping it is an eventful one for us all!

Over the coming few weeks I will try to keep the site updated on a more regular basis with what’s been going on for the past several months since I last left a Blog. A lot has certainly happened & hopefully a lot more to follow. For those of you who read my boi’s site on a regular occurance will already know how busy we have been over the Festive Season. Keep watching for more news to come.

OH MY! Time has definitely flown! It’s the end of March already & I am yet to leave a blog since Christmas!

This obviously reflects how busy I have been during the first quarter of this year.

As of this weekend, we are celebrating 2 Birthdays in the socko family. Big Bro Maddoggie who’s B’day was today & his daughter L who shall be 8 on April Fools Day. Happy Birthday to you! We enjoyed a nice Roast Lamb & veggies for dinner followed by a scrumptious Orange & Poppyseed cake from the Cheesecake Shop.

I have started a new job back on 5th February, at a Childcare centre near Mascot. It is a Fulltime position & I am back working with 0-2 yr olds in the Nursery. I was there merely half a day & had realized what I’d been missing all this time since leaving Childcare. It is of course extremely tiring & busy work however it is very self satisfying. I have settled in well over the past 2 months & have already made bonds with the children in my care. We have had a social night out already to celebrate passing the in centre Accreditation process & the girls I work with are all great.

I do miss My Baby Warehouse very much & wish I could spare half of myself to be there as well. Of course the pay was MUCH better in retail working casual, however I have benefits from working for a council run centre & do enjoy my RDO’s, M/Tea & Lunch breaks, Holidays & Sick days paid when due.

We are about to make some changes to the site & I do hope when complete it will have a fresh new look. BTW, my eBay listings will be added as an RSS feed shortly. Stay tuned!

It is that time of the year again & for us things have been quite busy. Work has been constant & I have settled into my job without any hassles.

As of writing this blog there is a mere 14 sleeps till Santa arrives! I have been extra good this year I promise!

My family from the coast are coming up to join us for Christmas Day, my brother & 2 nieces who live nearby shall be here & SK’s mum, Nanna T will be enjoying her first Sydney Christmas. As it is a time of togetherness, we will definitely have that covered in a major way.

Next year however will see the addition of SK’s sister Duff to our Christmas table as during the New Year she will be making the move to the East with us from over West.

As this is the Season to give, let’s all give a few moments on the Big Day to think of those less fortunate than us & wish them also peace & happiness for 2007.

Remember to love those around you as these are our greatest treasures in life.

Merry Christmas to you & yours!

SK’s sister is arriving in under 8 hours from now & we are all getting excited to see each other again!

We have lots planned for during her 3 week stay.

Starting Thursday we are heading to Bathurst for the Super Cheap Auto 1000 http://www.supercheapauto1000.com.au at Mount Panorama. The annual camping trip this year is for the full 4 days. We have taken time off work to allow this. I am looking forward to the road trip with us 3 “kids” getting away for a bit of bonding over a wonderfully Holden long weekend!

We shall be returning Monday & back to work as of Tuesday.

The following Monday we are again heading out on a road trip this time with SK & Duff’s mum on board. Port Macquarie is our destination for a relaxing week away together. None of us have been there before so it is going to be wonderful.

It’s going to be a great few weeks ahead for us as a family & as always we will love being in each others company & sharing lots of good times creating future memories.

You may wonder why there has been no mention of Peter Brock on my site up until now. To be truthful, I have not been looking forward to doing it & quite frankly, I cannot simply find the right words to leave a fitting tribute for the man.

Upon hearing the news of the fatal car accident & the death of Peter Brock, I went numb. I was shocked, horrified, disappointed, angry, heartbroken. For the 2nd time that week I sat with a feeling that all of this is so surreal. Disbelief that such a person whom seemed an immortal in life was now to become an eternal memory.

I sat & watched the funeral service on TV yesterday with a box of tissues for comfort. During the 2 hour service I learnt a few new things about Brocky that I never knew. I heard stories of love & heartfelt memories shared. I felt the pain as a fan, mourning the loss of such an impressive man. But I did not envy any of those that were at the service & felt the full impact. I believe that we mourn along side of celebrating somebody’s life, being such an emotional person I cannot cease to repeatedly think about what we are now to miss out on. Brocky is gone. Forever. But NEVER forgotten.

Long Live the memory of The King Of The Mountain!

Australia and the world have suffered a sad loss this week with the sudden & unfortunate passing of Steve Irwin.

The tragedy happened suddenly and unexpectedly during filming for a series for his daughter’s international TV show.

As reported on several news programs, Steve was diving in shallow waters at Batt Reef when he swam overtop of a large bull Ray. Startled, the ray swiped his tail upwards towards Steve and the large barb on the ray’s tail was driven straight into Steve’s chest, fatally lodging into his heart. Apparently, Steve pulled the barb out himself before loosing consciousness. His crew got him back to the boat where CPR was commenced and continued until reaching other paramedics, who continued the CPR process before pronouncing Steve as deceased.

Indeed, it seemed it was “his time”. The Ray could have got him in any other part of the body causing the freak accident to stay at that. But the fatal blow straight into Steve’s heart is what makes this freak accident a tragedy.

Whether you loved him or not, Steve has definitely made an impact to all of our lives.

This man who seemed so invincible. Living on the edge and so full of enthusiasm for what he believed in will stay in our memories and our hearts for a lifetime. We are fortunate enough to have many of his dreams available to us. The Australia Zoo is one of the biggest examples of this along with televised programs for our educational & entertaining needs. His conservational efforts are aw-inspiring and Wildlife Warriors Worldwide has been a proud venture of his that shall continue in his memory as strong as it ever could be.

On a personal note, I myself have mourned over the past few days of the loss of a legendary icon this country was and forever more be only too proud of. I have shed many a tear whilst trying to come to grips with the surreal sensation I have dealt with since hearing the news. For someone to have touched me in such a way without actually knowing them or being related to them has really made me take a step back and have a good look at reality. We really don’t know when our time is up and we all need to make the most of what we have. Treasure every day and every person in your life as even a whole lifetime merely isn’t enough.

Steve is survived by his wife Terri, 8 year old Daughter Bindi and 3 year old Son Bob.

I am feeling somewhat excited this evening as I have landed myself a Job Interview for 10am tomorrow. This position I applied for earlier in the week after seeing it advertised firstly on MyCareer.com.au (from where I sent application in), then in the local St George Sutherland Shire Leader.

I don’t want to jinx myself, so I will write a little more after the interview. My fingers are definitely crossed, though I won’t get my hopes up as yet. This is merely Job Interview #1 in what could be many more to come. Dare I say I am feeling a shade confident & am not nervous at all at this stage. As for tomorrow, all I can say is.. BRING IT ON!!!!

What can I say….. I’m still an unemployed bum. Before you start worrying bout receiving benefits etc etc, I am NOT on unemployment benefits nor am I registered with Centrelink. So therefore all our hard earned tax dollars are not finding their way to my purse. No doubt there is someone out there “mooching” on the system, but most of those who are collecting benefits are struggling to do so. I disagree with how the system is held these days & if our circumstances get more undesirable than they are now, I may have to rely upon that very system. As for now, I will keep plodding along in my own time looking for employment and hoping that those I have recently applied for may show a little luck my way & allow me the opportunity to get back on my feet.

Sadly I must say, with unemployment comes a lot of negative feelings. I am feeling unworthy with each email of rejection in response to letters & applications in looking for a job. Knowing that SK is footing each & every expense in the home makes me feel irresponsible. As each day goes by, another debt comes along. I am now at the stage where I cannot make my standard monthly expenses & before long it will all come back at me. I can merely keep my fingers crossed & hope that something comes my way very very soon.

Currently I am again on the hunt to find a new job.

I have contacted the majority of Baby Retail stores in the local area & have found that there really isn’t a great deal of stores out there. Most of them are chain stores like Babies Galore & Babyco. I have however found 1 local independent store at Kogarah. The lady seemed very nice to speak to on the phone, but unfortunately had no work to offer. She said she runs the store on her own & I noticed it is open Tuesday through Sunday. I feel for her. Knowing what the industry can be like, I think she has no choice but to run it herself. She did however say that if popularity grows & times get busier, then she would look at hiring then. I am thinking of posting a copy of my resume to her to keep on hand anyway.

I am in the midst of lining up a job interview for the end of this week with another store. So fingers crossed it may pay off!

I have a few ideas running in the back of my mind at the moment that I have already discussed with SK. Hopefully things will get off the ground soon & we will have a website for parents & families running within the next several weeks.

So please keep an eye on this space!

I am excited about the mission we have set ourselves as the care for babies, children & their families has always been & will always stay a very strong & important part of my life.

By the way, don’t be afraid to leave a blog message for me! It enlightens my day & I miss the contact with all my friends that I use to have.