Sunday 20 September 2009

"How our behaviour is driven by our thoughts"

Apologies for the delay in the latest blog - must have been very busy - we'll see!

Well Chris has started his shifts at McDonalds and has tended to be on a late or night shift. It means he gets to spend most of his day in bed (Nothing new there then) and he spends his waking hours earning money - plus spending some of it on Angus Burgers at break-time! One major plus he has discovered is that the restaurant has a huge plasma TV showing Sky Sport throughout the night - even though the restaurant is closed (except for drive-through) - so between building the burgers and cleaning the equipment he gets to watch all the sport he can take! He texted me at about 3am this morning just to let me know that Michael Owen had scored the winner against the dirty Blues. My annoyance at being woken at that time soon passed once the news actually registered!

So we've not seen that much of Chris this last fortnight - maybe the odd sighting around meal time when he ghosts on through getting ready for his depart to work. Though he's already moaning about not knowing where his money is going and is starting to show concern that it won't be that easy to save up $10K for a car before Christmas!


Christchurch remains in the grip of a very warm and dry spring - it's hardly rained during September (apart from Friday night - just as Chris was cycling home from work!).

The blossoms out around the Park and there seem to be Magnolia trees everywhere you turn. It's glorious.


Sarah had been due to go on a skiing trip last Friday with the school (and Maria as a helper) but high winds over the mountains put an end to outing. Shame really - both of them were really looking forward to it. Not sure whether there will be any more trips to the slopes this "winter" - it's getting towards the end of the season and the centres will be closing down.

Sarah also spent Saturday morning at the Girl's High School sitting some tests with the rest of the Year 9 intake - they are for streaming purposes. She felt she did OK - except for the Mauri language test where she didn't have a clue what was being asked of her!!

Maria had a 3 day trip up to Wellington the week before last - attending the NZ Occupational Health Nursing Annual Conference. She spent a couple of pleasant nights with the Guyomars in Lower Hutt - leading them astray (according to Mike, that is) insisting they drink lots of nice Sauvignon Blanc during the week.
The trip proved very useful for Maria from a networking perspective and looks encouraging for future work opportunities.

I too have remained busy on the networking front - especially last Thursday when I spent 3 hours clambering around the Adrenalin Forest (Go Ape) Park at an event promoted by the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. Despite it not sounding like work (by the way it was quite tough up in them trees!) I met some good people and again it looks as though some opportunities may come out of it.

I've booked a venue to host a free seminar tomorrow evening (22nd Sept) - the first i2i event in NZ. The title of the seminar is "how our behaviour is driven by our thoughts". I'm really looking forward to it - and will no doubt make comment in a future blog.

I've had a bit of a cough over the past week and had to ease back on my running with the Port Hills Runners. Fortunately, the rest of the family weren't affected and have been fit and well.

Yesterday we went around to Matt and Lou's for a BBQ with a few of their pals. It was another gloriously sunny day - just perfect for siting out in the garden drinking beer and wine and eating barbequed steak - yum, yum.

Saturday 5 September 2009

Dream building at the Boat Show

Another sunny week here in Christchurch - when will my bike turn up? Latest forecast from "The Moving Co" is 15th September. Bring it on. Have just bought a helmet, lock and lights to enable Chris to use one of the "House bikes" this week for commuting to and from work. The restaurant opens tomorrow (Monday) after a week of cleaning, sorting, stocking, testing, etc. He gave me a tour of the place last night when I picked him up after a long days work. Enjoyed a brief chat and glass of wine with the franchise owner, Bruce. Seems a good guy and he said that Chris has been working hard - so that's a great relief!! His initial shifts are not great - he's doing night shifts to start with - 10pm to 6am! till, it's a start and it should help him to save his earnings as he'll probably be in bed for the rest of the day!

Maria had a couple of days work this week with Medica and a few days off - so I think it was more to her liking! We had a trip over to the Port Hills on Thursday morning and had a run along the Harry Ell track from the Sign of the Takahe to the Sign of the Kiwi. It was lovely and sunny with great views back across Christchurch - if you stopped to take a look, that is! Maria has now entered a series of 3 "triathlons for women" running October to December so she's back in training - she's out running around Hagley Park as I type this. We also went to Jellie Park on Friday for a swim - getting serious! I've picked up a bit of a chesty cough so I'm easing off for a day or 2.

I did have a good start to the week on the exercise front, though, having a great workout with the Port Hill Runners on Monday night. We were running for an hour and 20 mins with a tough middle section of around 11km - 3 x 3.75km negative split laps for those interested! Sore legs on Tuesday.

On the work front it's been quite busy again - though still looking forward to receiving a payment! Have engaged someone to re-design my web-page and I've had some brochures printed. I've also booked a venue to host a couple of seminars in the next month or so - it gives me something to focus on and direct my marketing and networking towards. Should be fun.

I went to an "Evening with Steve Venables" on Thursday - hosted by the NZ Alpine Club. He was the first Brit to climb Everest without oxygen tanks. It was a really good event. Some interesting stories of triumph and near disaster. Some great photos too.

Sarah and Maria spent Saturday afternoon visiting the Museum and wandering around the park whilst I went off to watch Woolston Tech in the semi-final of the South Island Football Cup. They were winning 2-0 when I left and I've not yet heard the final score. We all went out for dinner in the evening (Saturday) - Steve and Viv Frodsham invited us around to their place. Another pleasant evening of good food, good company and good wine!

Chris was back in work today (Sunday) helping the final preparations for tomorrow's grand opening. Maria, Sarah and I went along to the Boat Show at the local WestPac Arena. There were some great boats there to help inspire me to generate some positive cash-flow! Not long now....