I enter competitions for a hobby without a great deal of success but we found out yesterday that hubby had won a trip to the Oaks Day Races by helicopter... and the treat involves a facial and make-up - he's looking forward to that bit.
He's taking his good mate with him because I hate facials, only fly if I'm desperate to get somewhere and one horse race a year is more than enough for me.
I'll drop in a photo of them all made up tomorrow.
As I said I don't win big ... ever! but I do quite often get free movie tickets so you might find reviews in some up-and-coming movies if you're lucky.
If you're interested in becoming a "comper" (someone who enters far too many competitions) where there's the thrill of "this one might be a winner" but the only thing you need to gamble is your time, then you can join a club like www.compingclub.com - free to join but you can get additional member benefits by contributing a small donation and there you'll find lots of like-minded people who share competition details, answers, and the time of day.
Hope to see you there soon.
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Introducing Me
Fantastic, my stunning new business cards and flyers have just arrived and they're so awesome I actually got off my bum to deliver them - 50 a day is my challenge until I've delivered 1500 of them round the area.
Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself. I haven't told you yet who I am or what I'm about.
My name's Cal (short for Carolyn... so no, I'm not a bloke). I've been living in Melbourne for about 6 years now which is a far cry from my origins in Manchester and it still tickles me when I find myself in the Manchester (linen to fellow Poms) department in Myer.
I've a couple of kids, a sometimes angelic teenage drama queen and a double-digits happily forgetful athlete, and another half who doesn't quite have the time to take shifts on Mum's Taxi.
Without family in the area, and careers and jobs which fit in with school hours hard to find, I've been working on ways to be there for my kids while preserving some brain-cells and bringing in some income.
Once upon a time we promised ourselves that our Australian home would have a pool - how else do you persuade a little girl who loves her life to leave home, family and friends behind? And so, when we bought our ridiculously big (for me) home on an acre block the only possible spot for the pool was on our driveway... so that's where we put it.
The slight problem was that you'd have to drive through water to use the garage. With a now redundant garage and a dream of regular visits from my parents we decided to convert the garage, spare bedrooms and kitchen/laundry into a fully self-contained apartment directly underneath our house.
So, we now have a beautiful fully furnished 3 bedroom apartment within our home that we've decided to open for short-term lets. And it's fun, our guests so far have been delightful, our children have played together and we've had the occasional glass of wine together if guests wanted to share the space. We've called the accommodation Cal's Place and you can find out more by clicking on the link.
I have a second job helping individuals create winning resumes for themselves. After 12 years in Recruitment and with a Masters Degree in Human Resources I decided I was far happier on the side of the employee and love the enthusiasm that people have for their careers whether they're just starting out or at the peak of their employability. Unfortunately, though, creating that two pager that will reflect all their skills and achievements can be tricky so that's where I come in.
Since I came to Melbourne I've also spent time teaching Maths in high school and working as a relocation consultant so I've learned a lot about setting up a new life in Melbourne whether it's discovering the City (with its delightful hook turns) and suburbs; building new (and wonderfully supportive) friendship groups; settling the kids happily in schools; and discovering the joys of setting up in business.
In the next few months I hope I can share some of the fun and trauma of discovering life in Melbourne.
All the best.
Cal
Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself. I haven't told you yet who I am or what I'm about.
My name's Cal (short for Carolyn... so no, I'm not a bloke). I've been living in Melbourne for about 6 years now which is a far cry from my origins in Manchester and it still tickles me when I find myself in the Manchester (linen to fellow Poms) department in Myer.
I've a couple of kids, a sometimes angelic teenage drama queen and a double-digits happily forgetful athlete, and another half who doesn't quite have the time to take shifts on Mum's Taxi.
Without family in the area, and careers and jobs which fit in with school hours hard to find, I've been working on ways to be there for my kids while preserving some brain-cells and bringing in some income.
Once upon a time we promised ourselves that our Australian home would have a pool - how else do you persuade a little girl who loves her life to leave home, family and friends behind? And so, when we bought our ridiculously big (for me) home on an acre block the only possible spot for the pool was on our driveway... so that's where we put it.
The slight problem was that you'd have to drive through water to use the garage. With a now redundant garage and a dream of regular visits from my parents we decided to convert the garage, spare bedrooms and kitchen/laundry into a fully self-contained apartment directly underneath our house.
So, we now have a beautiful fully furnished 3 bedroom apartment within our home that we've decided to open for short-term lets. And it's fun, our guests so far have been delightful, our children have played together and we've had the occasional glass of wine together if guests wanted to share the space. We've called the accommodation Cal's Place and you can find out more by clicking on the link.
I have a second job helping individuals create winning resumes for themselves. After 12 years in Recruitment and with a Masters Degree in Human Resources I decided I was far happier on the side of the employee and love the enthusiasm that people have for their careers whether they're just starting out or at the peak of their employability. Unfortunately, though, creating that two pager that will reflect all their skills and achievements can be tricky so that's where I come in.
Since I came to Melbourne I've also spent time teaching Maths in high school and working as a relocation consultant so I've learned a lot about setting up a new life in Melbourne whether it's discovering the City (with its delightful hook turns) and suburbs; building new (and wonderfully supportive) friendship groups; settling the kids happily in schools; and discovering the joys of setting up in business.
In the next few months I hope I can share some of the fun and trauma of discovering life in Melbourne.
All the best.
Cal
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