Happy Mothers Day Mum And Nan

Once again it has taken me forever to make the time to post a new addition to my blog, my sincere apologies for this. Hopefully it won't be as long as it was this time again!



I have chosen in this post not to get on my horse about anything (except maybe the terrible game of footy I went to last weekend that was SUPPOSED TO BE A DERBY!!!) No, I won't go there with the Eagles, except to say hopefully the Mothers Day game on Sunday against Melbourne will bring me some joy....sigh



This post is to be dedicated to all of the wonderful mums of the world, I hope you all have a wonderful day, you deserve it :x



Where would we be without our Mum? I know I would be lost without mine. It is the time of year we give thanks to all of the wonderful Mums of the world. I am blessed with a beautiful devoted Mum who never left me feeling anything but wanted and loved, and I would be a happy Mum myself to know my children grow up feeling the same way as I do. I was extra lucky as I also had my Nan, who is the proverbial lovely Grandma from every children's book ever written. With all of the love I received from my Mum and my Nana I was surrounded in motherly love. I know that not everyone is nearly as lucky as me. Personally I think Mothers Day should include all the surrogate Mum's, who unofficially adopt their kids friends, family members who take on a mother role of other family members children, and those who feel sorry for the local kid who always has a dirty face and who bestows as many random acts of kindness possible on the poor creature without being thought strange. My friend is one of these selfless souls who although cruelly mother nature did not allow her to bare her own children, made up for it with the countless children she has helped. At her birthday recently I was blown away by the amount of "Deb's kids" that turned up to thank her and wish her a happy birthday. It makes you wonder if these special people are put on this earth to be the angel to the young who are for whatever reason, in great need of a loving Mum. No matter whether it is your birth mother, adopted mother or a special someone who mothers you, taking the time to pay homage to the one who has loved you and helped you to become who you are today makes it all worthwhile.

Last minute money saving gift ideas for Mother's Day, for those who haven't found a gift yet :0

Flowers - always brings a smile and of course florists have beautiful arrangements for you to choose from. If you are watching your wallet however you can usually find them at service stations, the deli along with road side sellers at really great prices. Makes sure you go early though, as flowers sell out very quickly on mother's day. If need be find a park with a lovely garden and armed with some snipers, discreetly gather a lovely bouquet.

Handmade Scrap booking Card / Booklet - If your wallet is empty and the thought of rolling up at mum's empty handed is looking likely, don't panic you can make her day by making a gift from the heart. It is so simple to gather up some photos, try and find some nice coloured paper if you can, bits of ribbon etc include a nice verse on each page, (if your not the creative type there are plenty on google, simply type in "mothers day verse"), add a splash of colour with some paint or markers, painting or drawing in hearts or whatever takes your fancy. Voila, you have a lovely keep sake that will be extra special because you made it.

A Mum Make Over - Yes that's right, why not pamper mum with all the goodies you need in your bathroom. Arm yourself with your hair dryer, curling wand and straightener and make yourself your mums beauty specialist for the day. Include your makeup bag and some magazines so she can choose a celebrity style and your sure to win a smile. If you want to go all out give her a manicure and pedicure and include some nice smelling lotion or oil and give her a massage as well. Voila, insert instant happy mum here. She will feel great and have a new look!

I hope this helps those that are out of cash and ideas give their mum a great day :)

I Can't believe it's nearly Christmas

Oh, I can't believe it has been so long since I lasted posted on my poor neglected blog! I do have an excuse, I have a wonderful new job that has been keeping me busy. I have found an almost perfect balance for a Mum who believes the most important job is being there for your kids. I work for an environmentally friendly company that produces mozzie sticks made from natural oils, predominately sandalwood and citronella, although we now also have sandalwood with jasmine, and sandalwood with ylang ylang. My boss's are fantastic people and very family friendly. Basically I am required to work 20 hours a week and it is up to me when I do the hours, this means that important things like sports carnivals and the like for me kid's can easily be slotted into my week. I have a certain amount of stores that I am required to visit in a month, some fort nightly in the mozzie season. The pay is great and I receive cash bonus's for sales of pallets so I feel very lucky to have found my job.

My daughter's 10th birthday has been and gone with a very giggly sleepover and a birthday dinner at Nannies to celebrate :) She asked for a digital camera and we got her a great Samsung model that is actually better than ours! It also has the added bonus of being pink! To say we were relieved to learn that she no longer had Bratz dolls on the most wanted list is an understatement, there is only so much room for all the paraphernalia: houses, limo's, pools and spa's, ice skating rinks - need I say more. The other things she wanted was some new surf clothes, cd's and Nintendo ds games....sigh my little darling is growing up!

Our family is currently experiencing the phenomenon of Wii fit! Omg I have rediscovered muscles that had gone into retirement years ago.... We are all enjoying it though, and it is great that Nintendo has produced something that is making it fun to do fitness, something that I would never have believed possible.. Not that I don't enjoy fitness, it is just so bloody boring doing exercises. I am much more the sport for fitness type, although I like most have done my time in aerobics and the like. The Wii fit has the advantage of letting you fit it into your lifestyle whenever you like, a definite plus.

I am looking forward to Christmas although it will be slightly different this year with one of my beloved brothers taking off on a holiday up north.. thanks bro, just leave the neglected feeling relies to your big sis, it's ok...lol Nah half his luck, although I am a little concerned as he is heading up north in cyclone season :0 hmm I am positive that my family loves giving me nightmares, seeing as I am the designated worrier of the family.

Anyway I must go, I promise to try and lift my game a little and get back into posting a little more regularly :)

Tootles

In Remembrance Of My Beloved Grandfather

Mamma Mia

I had the pleasure of seeing this delightful movie the other day accompanied by my best friend and my daughter. About the only disappointing thing about this movie was the audience in the movie theatre sitting still in their seats! This movie made me wish I had assembled and donned an Abba outfit of some kind and that the theatre had actively encouraged dancing on the seats and in the isles. This movie was so enjoyable that it was hard work staying for me to stay put in my seat. Apart from my soul sister best friend, who was in a similar state herself, the audience just sat there. After awhile we did become a little infectious with our singing along and hand movements as we saw with delight that two teenage girls seated in front of us joined in for awhile.

My darling daughter however did not share our enthusiasm for partying out in the theatre to the many Abba songs that are performed very well in the movie. After several nudges from my sweet little girl and angry hisses of "Mum, seriously please stop it" that fell on deaf ears, she resorted to pulling her hat down low over her lovely little face to hide from the embarrassment of her mother.

When all of her attempts failed and we had now got to the hands waiving in the air stage it was more than she could take and she got up and walked out of the theatre. We laughed our heads off at my daughters reaction and as it was in the last few minutes of the movie I let her go. She was angrily awaiting us on the seat outside the theatre.

Mumma Mia is a lovely totally silly movie adaption of a long running musical performed in theatres all over the world for many years. It is the delightful story about an ex showgirl/hippy who falls pregnant and raises her daughter alone in a lovely remote Greek hotel. Her daughter now twenty is getting married and upon discovery of her mother's diary learns that her father could be any one of three men.Desperately wanting her father at her wedding she does the only thing that she can, invite all three of them!

My face hurt from laughing at this movie. With a cast that includes Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Pierce Bronson, and Colin Firth (he will always be Mr Darcy to me) none of whom can sing particularly well it makes for an amusing combination. It is one that is strictly for the girls, which is a good thing anyway as the experienced would be marred by the inclusion of men :p We had a great time and left the theatre in a very happy frame of mind. If you haven't seen it already, then do yourself a favour as the famous Aussie icon Molly Meldrum would say, and go at your first opportunity. Warning a love of Abba is a must :)

For a full list of the cast visit http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795421/

Mathemagic Computer Tutor Beware Of Scams

Hi again, well I thought it was about time I shared the work from home experience with everyone. Unfortunately for me it hasn't gone as planned and to say I am annoyed is an understatement!

I found a job working from home for 4 hours a day Monday - Thursday, from 4.30pm - 8.30pm. I was initially told that for $20 - $35 per hour all I had to do was phone people who had previously expressed an interest in the Mathemagic Computer Tutor, confirm their appointment and then update the database with the relevant information. Sounds too good to be true? well it was!

I agreed to meet my new employers, an attractive couple, in their East Perth apartment which is worth over $1,000,000.00 to buy or around $900 a week to rent. Little did they know that I had already conducted a little research on the both of them and their product prior to our meeting. What I discovered wasn't pretty. The previous director of the WA branch of this company, in this instance we will refer to him as "Mr X", had been taken to court and convicted for breaching the door to door sales act. This is why I would assume that in the job advertisement the director is now listed as his female partner, who we will call "Ms X". My Google search on her wasn't exactly a high recommendation of virtue either discovering restricted photo's on a X rated website. This alarmed me as she is a mother herself and by simpling searching her name on Google the photo's were the result. You would think that at least for your children's sake that you wouldn't have your full name associated with something like that!

As to the product itself, well as you can read in this forum http://gorey.com.au/archives/tag/mathemagic
it is way over priced at around $8000 for the complete package and just doesn't stack up against other similar products in value which sell for around $750.

With this price tag I assumed they would be targeting families from affluent areas, wrong. They informed me in the 4 and a half hours of sales pitch torture that was inflicted upon me, that people from "The mortgage belt areas seem to care more for their kids". What a joke, more likely that these poor parents who usually aren't highly educated are more likely to fall for their sales pitch.

I couldn't believe the hide on this pair of piranhas when they informed me that they felt morally responsible to ensure as many kids as possible had access to this software. If they felt that strongly, why hike the price up by such a huge margin, when this product apparently costs the distributors a fraction of what they charge? Why because they are leeches in this business serving only to take unsuspecting parents thinking they are improving their children's education money.

The job advertisement hadn't been exactly up front either. It stated nothing about having to pay for all the phone calls yourself, to which I might add there are a lot of std calls to be made. The confirming appointments description was also not quite an accurate reflection on what I would be doing. It seemed that I was going to have to call people who had registered their interest in the product in a shopping centre from anywhere up to 5 years ago. This, they explained was a great selling tool stating that we can inform customers that we are in such a high demand it takes this long to get back to you! LMAO what a joke, a lot of these people had supplied their information thinking they had entered a competition to win the product. Little did they know that they had actually entered their names,addresses,children's names and phone numbers into a huge data base that allowed these people to harass them for years to come. If you see a competition for the Mathemagic Computer Tutor in a shopping centre, run!

Another little piece of information that they had failed to supply me previously was that I would have to register as a business and apply for an ABN. This enables them to escape any responsibility as an employer with superannuation and the likes. Very sneaky and not very nice.

This was all bringing that hourly rate down significantly, although I would receive $15 for every appointment I confirmed, wow!. The last straw was the role play that they insisted was an essential part of the job. I would have to drive 90 kms twice a week to their residence for a 5 hour role play UNPAID training session with them. Not to mention a daily role play on the phone. This was to ensure that I not only knew their script verbatim, but also to brain wash you into the belief that this product was the answer to every parents prayers. Somebody give me a bucket!


After awhile of listening to their dribble I was openly yawning, and couldn't wait to get out of the place. I went home with a throbbing head ache and considered all that I had learnt that day. I knew we needed the money, and I loved the idea of working from home and never having to miss another special school event,but I didn't want to work there. I felt like I would be knowingly contributing to these families signing up for years of debt. I fobbed them off over the weekend stating that I had to wait until my husband returned from his trip and discuss it with him, which was true anyway.

When I talked it over with my darling other half he agreed that it wasn't worth it. I phoned them and we mutually agreed that this wasn't going to work out as they were not prepared to meet me on any of the conditions that I wanted changed. To say it was a relief is an understatement, I felt like I had escaped the beast, I hadn't slain it, but escaped anyway with my dignity intact. I know that I couldn't have worked for people like that and slept well at night.

So take my experience as a lesson for when seeking work. All of the work from home jobs that I have discovered so far have a hidden agenda or are not upfront about what you are actually doing. Get as much information as you can before you go for an interview and do your research. Knowledge is power, read the links below to ensure you never buy this product!


http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/corporate/Media/statements/2007/November/Mathemagic_Computer_Tutor_dist.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xp9ZnX7rJM

http://www.smh.com.au/news/planning/do-the-maths-before-signing-up/2007/10/15/1192300680687.html

http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/corporate/Media/statements/2007/November/Maths_tutoring_director_fined_.html

http://gorey.com.au/archives/1809

http://community.boredofstudies.org/archive/index.php/t-71912.html

How To Shop Safely On Ebay

Hello again, since my babble about all the bargains I have found for my daughter's birthday on eBay, I thought it would be a good idea to share some important tips for those who haven't ventured to the dark side yet. The following tips are just some common things to look out for, if you aren't sure or it doesn't feel right, trust your instinct it is usually right. There will always be more bargains to be found.

1. Always check the sellers feedback - feedback is a simple method of promoting the seller via reviews and a score that is left by other shoppers or traders on how they felt about their shopping experience with this seller. Good sellers have good feedback it is that simple, and feeling secure enough to go ahead and purchase an item from a seller should always include a feedback check first. A feedback score and corresponding star (as pictured below) are next to every sellers name. Obviously the higher the number next to the sellers name, the higher the volume of positive sales have been completed by this seller. By simply clicking on the number located next to the star you are given a detailed breakdown of the sellers history, including all of the reviews left by other buyers on the sellers performance. Comments on delivery times, accuracy of the description of the item and the quality of the item are commonly included by buyers. This naturally builds on the sellers ability to sell more items via the feedback rating system. By clicking on the star itself you will see the number of good reviews that the seller has received without the actual review.

Be warned there have been eBay scams undertaken by unscrupulous types to rort the rating system. It is usually easy to spot these fake sellers as all of the ratings and reviews will be from a very brief period of time, where as an established sellers reviews have built up over what can amount to years of selling on eBay. If you see a seller that has a rating of 1000 that has been achieved in a couple of weeks, I would be suspicious to say the least. Use common sense in this instance.

Another ploy by the scammers is to use multiple log on names to boost their own ratings via fake sales. This is also easily spotted when you do your feedback check. If you notice that all of the reviews are from only a few different names, I would steer clear of this seller. EBay has a "report this seller" tab at the bottom of the page on every item listed, so if you are suspicious report it, and let the experts deal with them.

2. Pay pal love it or hate it is very useful in eBay. What I like about Pay pal is that the buyer has protection from Pay pal should anything go wrong in the sale. I always try to bid on items that have Pay pal as an option, as a safety net should you need it. In my many years of purchasing items on eBay there has been only one occasion where I needed Pay pal to gain a refund for the item I purchased. As soon as they determined that my item was faulty my money was refunded.

3. Make sure you read the description of the item thoroughly. It is not the sellers responsibility to make sure you checked all of the information properly and that the item that they are selling meets your requirements. If the seller has failed to provide all of the information that you would like to know about the item, always ask them prior to bidding on the item. For example if the item is new with tags attached, how much postage will cost to your address etc.. By simply clicking on "ask the seller a question about this item", located on the right hand side of the listing under the sellers name, you have covered yourself should a dispute arise. Usually most sales on eBay go through effortlessly but you do have the odd occasion where you may not be happy with your purchase.

4. Check the price of the item in online stores and catalogues before you bid. If I am unsure what an item would usually sell for in the stores I open another window and just do a Google search for the item. This will give you listings of other locations where you can purchase the item and by clicking on the link you can compare the price with your items current bids on eBay. My personal rule of thumb is that if the item on eBay is over half the price that I can get it from elsewhere then I will pass on making a bid. This is my own self discipline that I have adopted over the years and leaves me feeling fulfilled in knowing that I have purchased the item at a good price. There is nothing worse than purchasing something only to learn that the local stores are having a half price sale and that you could have purchased the item cheaper, a lot closer to home.

5.Always check the postage cost of items. Although briefly covered in checking the items

description, postage costs deserves a point of it's own. Previously sellers would list an item very cheaply or with no reserve (meaning that the items bids can start as low as 99cents) at all, only to have hiked the postage costs up. EBay has been excellent at attempting to eradicate these sellers although you will get some that slip through the cracks. You can complain in "Report This Seller" that the postage appears excessive in the listing and EBay will investigate your claim. Another scenario is where no postage cost is listed, in this instance always message the seller first and ask for an estimate on postage costs to your area. You then have a record via their response of what postage you will be charged. For those living in Australia you can always check this yourself also at http://www1.auspost.com.au/pac/aus_parcel.asp and for international postage at http://www1.auspost.com.au/international/

6. Always maintain steady contact with the seller throughout the process. As soon as I have won an item with my bid being the last successful bid, I await payment instructions from the seller via email. As soon as I have received their email I process my payment and then email them straight away to let them know that I have completed my payment. This serves not only as a courtesy but also informs the seller immediately, thus speeding up your delivery time. The seller will then usually thank you for your payment and let you know when you can expect delivery of the item. Once the item has been received and assuming that you are happy with it, email the seller back and let them know. You then go back to your "My EBay" page and follow the links next to the item to leave feedback for the seller. The seller will then leave feedback for you which let's other sellers know that you are a good customer.

There you have it, these are just some basic tips for buying safely on eBay that work for me and I hope that they may help you in your EBay experience.

Take care everyone :)

Please note that I am not affiliated with either EBay or Pay pal in anyway.

Beautiful Moments In Time