Well I will be as of Wednesday.
I'm so happy and feeling very relieved. It's been a long 9 months searching for work, completing applications, writing selection criteria (uuggghhhh) and then, if I was lucky, getting the 'thanks, but no thanks' email.
Anyway, I'm going back to the future and have been remployed by the employer (Menzies Group) I resigned from in May last year. Nearly 2 weeks ago, I discovered that my replacement's replacement was resigning. I emailed the branch manager,ccd the melbourne manager and CEO to let them know that I was interested. I was granted an interview last Tuesday and was notified last Wednesday afternoon that I was successful. In the 18 months since my resignation, the branch has undergone major changes and the role I had as administration officer has changed with it also. I'm excited about the changes and of course working with a new team.
Jen
Monday 6 November 2017
Tuesday 31 October 2017
The Costume Designer: Edith Head & Hollywood Exhibition
On Saturday 21/10/2017, Neale & I travelled to Bendigo for the weekend, which is a 3 1/2 hour trip away for us. It was very easy to get there. Once we turned onto the freeway in Morwell, our next turn was onto the correct exit to take us through Melbourne and then one more turn to pull into the motel carpark in Bendigo!
Neale had bought tickets for us to see the Edith Head exhibition which is currently being held at the Bendigo Art Gallery for the Sunday. I'd been wanting to see it since I read that there was to be an exhibition of her work
After we settled in, we went for a walk to explore the streets and town. We actually spent several days on our honeymoon in Bendigo - but I really can't remember too much now, 32 1/2 years later! Anyway we walked all over the place, went to see an art exhibition by an aboriginal artist at another gallery, I actually managed to make it to the top of the poppet head in Rosalind Park! Walked back to the town centre as they had an arts/crafts fair on in the evening with music in Hargreaves Mall. I bought myself a cute headband and we bought ourselves tea from a food stall - a deconstructed souvalaki which was very tasty. We then walked back to our motel - I barely made it too! So much walking, and I am so unfit. Lets just say that I managed walk around to view the exhibition on Sunday, but Monday-Wednesday, all I could manage was a hobble. My calves were painfully sore.
The exhibition was wonderful. To see the costumes that the film stars wore for their performances was amazing. Believe me - they are sooooo tiny. I didn't take very many photos - I figured that the show catalogue would contain a lot of what was on display - alas no. I think my favourite gown was a gold coloured one that Natalie Wood wore in "Inside Daisy Clover" in 1965.(bottom left below)
Top Left - Suit worn by Audrey Hepburn. Edith Head share the Academy award nomination for this film in 1958 with Givenchy and it is likely that he played a major part in the design of this costume.
Middle - Wedding dress worn by Barbara Stanwyck - I think!
Top Right - worn by Olivia De Haviland
Bottom Left - worn by Natalie Wood
Bottom right - can't remember who wore the purple outfit and can't work it out from the description in the catalogue The green Edwardian travelling outfit was worn by Barbara Stanwyck.
Jen
Neale had bought tickets for us to see the Edith Head exhibition which is currently being held at the Bendigo Art Gallery for the Sunday. I'd been wanting to see it since I read that there was to be an exhibition of her work
After we settled in, we went for a walk to explore the streets and town. We actually spent several days on our honeymoon in Bendigo - but I really can't remember too much now, 32 1/2 years later! Anyway we walked all over the place, went to see an art exhibition by an aboriginal artist at another gallery, I actually managed to make it to the top of the poppet head in Rosalind Park! Walked back to the town centre as they had an arts/crafts fair on in the evening with music in Hargreaves Mall. I bought myself a cute headband and we bought ourselves tea from a food stall - a deconstructed souvalaki which was very tasty. We then walked back to our motel - I barely made it too! So much walking, and I am so unfit. Lets just say that I managed walk around to view the exhibition on Sunday, but Monday-Wednesday, all I could manage was a hobble. My calves were painfully sore.
The exhibition was wonderful. To see the costumes that the film stars wore for their performances was amazing. Believe me - they are sooooo tiny. I didn't take very many photos - I figured that the show catalogue would contain a lot of what was on display - alas no. I think my favourite gown was a gold coloured one that Natalie Wood wore in "Inside Daisy Clover" in 1965.(bottom left below)
Middle - Wedding dress worn by Barbara Stanwyck - I think!
Top Right - worn by Olivia De Haviland
Bottom Left - worn by Natalie Wood
Bottom right - can't remember who wore the purple outfit and can't work it out from the description in the catalogue The green Edwardian travelling outfit was worn by Barbara Stanwyck.
Jen
September/October Pattern Haul
What can I say - well apart from ''they were on sale''!
I am an addict - please don't send help!
Jen
I am an addict - please don't send help!
Tuesday 17 October 2017
RIP Alf Stratford 31/1/1926 - 3/9/2017
My dearly loved Father in Law, died last month, which as you can imagine was a very sad time for our family. I just can't believe how fast it was - Dad had a slight cough on the Monday, on the Wednesday evening he was admitted to hospital with a chest infection and pneumonia and he died in the early hours of Sunday morning. He was 91.
My Father in Law had been a resident of a local nursing home - His house in Morwell, after being on the market for nearly a year had finally sold with the new owners to take possession at the end of September. So, it was an extremely busy September, dealing with the funeral and of course having to pack up and clean out the house. We got it all done in time - whew! We donated a lot of Neale's parent's things and furniture to the Salvation Army. I also felt so bad about having to throw so many of their things out - nearly 60 years of memories etc. Neale and I were exhausted by the time we completed it all. Obviously, cleaning out the house should have happened when my FIL entered the nursing home - but it was something that Neale refused to contemplate then. We've also got lots of boxes stored here at home and in our storage locker that will need to be sorted through. We're planning a big clean up and reorganisation of our garage and storage locker at the end of the year - psyching ourselves up for it!
I read an article/book advertisement on facebook (?) about death cleaning. There has been a book written by a Scandinavian author. Anyway the gist of it was as you get older you start preparing and decluttering and not buy into consumerism for the sake of it and only keeping the items that are meaningful. I suppose it is another form of the Kondo cleaning that was all the rage several years back.
Jen
My Father in Law had been a resident of a local nursing home - His house in Morwell, after being on the market for nearly a year had finally sold with the new owners to take possession at the end of September. So, it was an extremely busy September, dealing with the funeral and of course having to pack up and clean out the house. We got it all done in time - whew! We donated a lot of Neale's parent's things and furniture to the Salvation Army. I also felt so bad about having to throw so many of their things out - nearly 60 years of memories etc. Neale and I were exhausted by the time we completed it all. Obviously, cleaning out the house should have happened when my FIL entered the nursing home - but it was something that Neale refused to contemplate then. We've also got lots of boxes stored here at home and in our storage locker that will need to be sorted through. We're planning a big clean up and reorganisation of our garage and storage locker at the end of the year - psyching ourselves up for it!
I read an article/book advertisement on facebook (?) about death cleaning. There has been a book written by a Scandinavian author. Anyway the gist of it was as you get older you start preparing and decluttering and not buy into consumerism for the sake of it and only keeping the items that are meaningful. I suppose it is another form of the Kondo cleaning that was all the rage several years back.
Jen
July/August Pattern Haul
Hi All,
Lots of reading and organising done these past couple of months. Still no job on the horizon despite lots of applications done and sent. I've had several more interviews, but no luck with them. I was told that internal applicants were hired, which seems to be a huge waste of everyone's time. Pretty sure that I totally suck at interviews also with stupid behavioural questions and being judged on how clever you are at answering them - apparently, I'm not! I have another 6 applications in progress - but it's been just on 3 weeks now, so I think they've gone nowhere, and will have to start applying again. uuugghhh!
Bought more patterns on Sale from Spotlight. It's an addiction I tell you. I could have worse addictions......
The weather is warming up - yayyy! I'm so over the cold and wet.I can finally turn off the heater and save some money on the electricity bills.
I had to see a surgeon yesterday - have got a spot/lesion on my face for years that just wont heal and go away. and has been driving me crazy. I saw my Dr last week to get it checked out and he immediately referred me to a surgeon. Of course the spot had decided to heal over ggrrrr - (it'll be back) but what stunned me was the brevity of the appointment. If I spent more than a minute in the consulting room I'd be very surprised. Anyway, it's getting removed under a local in a couple of weeks. Fun!
Jen
Lots of reading and organising done these past couple of months. Still no job on the horizon despite lots of applications done and sent. I've had several more interviews, but no luck with them. I was told that internal applicants were hired, which seems to be a huge waste of everyone's time. Pretty sure that I totally suck at interviews also with stupid behavioural questions and being judged on how clever you are at answering them - apparently, I'm not! I have another 6 applications in progress - but it's been just on 3 weeks now, so I think they've gone nowhere, and will have to start applying again. uuugghhh!
Bought more patterns on Sale from Spotlight. It's an addiction I tell you. I could have worse addictions......
The weather is warming up - yayyy! I'm so over the cold and wet.I can finally turn off the heater and save some money on the electricity bills.
I had to see a surgeon yesterday - have got a spot/lesion on my face for years that just wont heal and go away. and has been driving me crazy. I saw my Dr last week to get it checked out and he immediately referred me to a surgeon. Of course the spot had decided to heal over ggrrrr - (it'll be back) but what stunned me was the brevity of the appointment. If I spent more than a minute in the consulting room I'd be very surprised. Anyway, it's getting removed under a local in a couple of weeks. Fun!
Jen
Thursday 6 July 2017
May/June Pattern Haul
Hi All.
Still no luck as yet on the job front - although I attended an initial interview on Monday morning for a part-time reception position at a local lawyer's office and received a phonecall yesterday - they want me to come back for a second interview on next Monday morning. Here's hoping and fingers and toes are crossed! I even contacted the CEO of the previous company I worked for - had nothing to lose. Unfotunately nothing available as yet due to waiting to hear about contracts gone out to tender, so I'm hopeful I might hear word at the end of the month/mid August.
I've been ironing - the family are yet to recover from the shock! Totally dislike ironing, so I let it go until it's of Mt Everest dimensions (or so it seems to me) before I tackle it. Anyway, I'm pleased to say I'm now down to only 3 baskets to go. Have been rediscovering my clothes and have piles for tossing, donating and mending.
I've acquired more patterns - What's new? I bought the McCalls patterns from Spotlight last week - I bought 6 patterns for $21. Have just noticed that one of the patterns, missed being catalogued. The new Look, Threadcount and Butterick patterns came as extras with the UK sewing magazines I bought. Really happy with the Butterick #5488 as it has a larger size range than the one I bought some years ago - I seem to have grown a tad, unfortunately not heightwise.
Still no luck as yet on the job front - although I attended an initial interview on Monday morning for a part-time reception position at a local lawyer's office and received a phonecall yesterday - they want me to come back for a second interview on next Monday morning. Here's hoping and fingers and toes are crossed! I even contacted the CEO of the previous company I worked for - had nothing to lose. Unfotunately nothing available as yet due to waiting to hear about contracts gone out to tender, so I'm hopeful I might hear word at the end of the month/mid August.
I've been ironing - the family are yet to recover from the shock! Totally dislike ironing, so I let it go until it's of Mt Everest dimensions (or so it seems to me) before I tackle it. Anyway, I'm pleased to say I'm now down to only 3 baskets to go. Have been rediscovering my clothes and have piles for tossing, donating and mending.
I've acquired more patterns - What's new? I bought the McCalls patterns from Spotlight last week - I bought 6 patterns for $21. Have just noticed that one of the patterns, missed being catalogued. The new Look, Threadcount and Butterick patterns came as extras with the UK sewing magazines I bought. Really happy with the Butterick #5488 as it has a larger size range than the one I bought some years ago - I seem to have grown a tad, unfortunately not heightwise.
Tuesday 25 April 2017
April Pattern Haul
I'm still madly buying & stashing patterns. I still maintain that if there were ever a pattern supply shortage, I've got it covered for decades!
No luck on the work front as yet. I've been out of work for now nearly 11 weeks. Lots of rejection emails. I've had 2 interviews so far, but was not successful - didn't have the required experience. I've still got about 6 applications pending, and am trying to be hopeful......but it's hard to be rejected. Neale's got this week off work, so hopefully we can do something/go somewhere (anywhere!) together. In about 3 weeks, I've got my English penfriend coming out to see us during her traveling aroung Australia and new Zealand. Sue and I have been writing to each other since we were about 10 years old. This will be her 3rd visit to Australia nad I'm really looking forward to seeing her and Steve again!
Thankfully, Spotlight now has very regular sales and totally enables
me in my addiction. My resolve is weak and I'm so easily led...
I have also downloaded 5 patterns from the Stylearc range - 3
dresses, a skirt and a cardi. I've also downloaded a couple of other
patterns from other sites that look great made up. I've never used pdf
patterns before, so I'm hoping that there won't be any dramas. Just
need to make sure that I've got plenty of ink and paper first.
No luck on the work front as yet. I've been out of work for now nearly 11 weeks. Lots of rejection emails. I've had 2 interviews so far, but was not successful - didn't have the required experience. I've still got about 6 applications pending, and am trying to be hopeful......but it's hard to be rejected. Neale's got this week off work, so hopefully we can do something/go somewhere (anywhere!) together. In about 3 weeks, I've got my English penfriend coming out to see us during her traveling aroung Australia and new Zealand. Sue and I have been writing to each other since we were about 10 years old. This will be her 3rd visit to Australia nad I'm really looking forward to seeing her and Steve again!
Jen x
Sunday 23 April 2017
51 - How did that happen?
A quiet day at home spent with my family. I had a birthday lunch yesterday at the Churchill Pub as 2 of my children were working today. We all had lovely meals and it was great to all be together.
Thursday 13 April 2017
I'm Back........
Hi All,
Can't believe it's been well over a year sice I updated my blog. A lot has happened.
Still doing lots of reading - updated my reading list for April. Have been into Morwell this morning and picked up 2 magazines - Vogue Patterns April/May 2017 and Sew Style Essentials Issue 1. This is a British magazine that came with 3 Kwiksew patterns. I buy several of the British mags each month at the moment, but will have to discontinue if I can't find work soon.
Sewing wise - Mending! The last thing I repaired was Vee's (older son Thomas's girlfriend) denim jacket and is very sentimental to her. It used to be her Father's jacket and he brought it out of Chile escaping the coup in 1973. Next up, a coat to tighten up the buttons (I won't ell you how long Morgan has been waiting for that to be done and to repair a strap on Laura's dress - she got shoved by a jerk in a bar recently and the strap gave way.
Have had my trek to Spotlight yesterday and bought some Burda patterns that were on sale, woven interfacing, some pretty rayon to make a shirt and some wool blend to make a straight skirt. I've got plenty of fabrics/patterns to keep me going and will just need incidentals like zips, buttons, linings etc. I've also bought several of the Stylearc patterns recently and have a few in my shopping cart at the moment. I like the fact that they cater to larger sizes - so I'm hoping to have some success with them.
Jen
Can't believe it's been well over a year sice I updated my blog. A lot has happened.
- I turned 50 last year (shock, horror)
- We adopted 3 kittens - Slinky, George and Roxy. Unfortunately, Roxy got sick with a fatal cat disease at the start of November last year and we had to have her put down - broke my heart. They're now about 14 months old and are total mischief makers and into everything. My lace curtains have been shredded!
- Neale and I celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary In May
- I resigned from my job to take up a position with another company.
- My elderly FIL got sick in the 2dn half of last year and after 6+ weeks in hospital and rehab, we had to make arrangements for him to enter a nursing home as it was determined he was unable to live alone. Thankfully, he's only minures away from us and has settled in well and seems to be doing ok.
- Laura completed her 2nd year of her Secondary Teaching Degree (2 more years to go - however, she has chosen to defer for this year and is virtually working full time at a Leisure Centre in Morwell and is hoping to save up some money for next year.
- I bought a new car - A Mazda CX5, and sold to Laura my cute little Mazda 3. Laura finally got her driver's licence the day after she turned 21.
- I got made redundant from my job after 9 months. Still a sore point - lots of tears and rude words have been shed and uttered, and have subsequently been out of work for nearly 9 weeks. I know I wanted a holiday - had visions of Hawaii. Alas, it's not going to happen any time soon now.
- Our oldest son Thomas, has moved to Melbourne to live with his girlfriend. He was accepted and has started studying at Deakin Uni for a Primary Teaching Degree
- Have been applying for lots of jobs - and have been rejected quite a few already too! Trying to be hopeful, but being realistic in knowing that the area has extremely high unemployment. I'm looking at admin jobs, accounts receivable work etc.
Still doing lots of reading - updated my reading list for April. Have been into Morwell this morning and picked up 2 magazines - Vogue Patterns April/May 2017 and Sew Style Essentials Issue 1. This is a British magazine that came with 3 Kwiksew patterns. I buy several of the British mags each month at the moment, but will have to discontinue if I can't find work soon.
Sewing wise - Mending! The last thing I repaired was Vee's (older son Thomas's girlfriend) denim jacket and is very sentimental to her. It used to be her Father's jacket and he brought it out of Chile escaping the coup in 1973. Next up, a coat to tighten up the buttons (I won't ell you how long Morgan has been waiting for that to be done and to repair a strap on Laura's dress - she got shoved by a jerk in a bar recently and the strap gave way.
Have had my trek to Spotlight yesterday and bought some Burda patterns that were on sale, woven interfacing, some pretty rayon to make a shirt and some wool blend to make a straight skirt. I've got plenty of fabrics/patterns to keep me going and will just need incidentals like zips, buttons, linings etc. I've also bought several of the Stylearc patterns recently and have a few in my shopping cart at the moment. I like the fact that they cater to larger sizes - so I'm hoping to have some success with them.
Jen
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