Magic in the Air!

Christmas magic has entered the castle...finally

the falling down tree in the bedroom has been rebuilt - for the second time now... my 20 month old nephew from Australia loves to pull the pink balls of it and run around with them hanging off his ears and clasped his wee hands saying "MINE" and "NO" if I ask for them back!
As he pulls the pink balls off the tree, the branches come out as well, which he just discards, my bedroom floor is very sparkly at the moment!

For the first time in years I have a real Christmas in the living room. The smell of pine is just divine. This tree has its own set of issues, the decorations keep falling off it and it has toppled over once...

The mantle is decorated very simply with my rose lights, faux branches and a gold angel. Its all very pretty at night time. And one lone stocking, I wonder if that means a good haul from Santa!:) What is very good is nothing has toppled off the mantle although now that I think about it there were a line of Christmas cards hanging with that stocking....

Among all this tree toppling, the Princess and my little three year old niece from Australia crafted today. We made beeswax candles to give to the Mummy's and Daddy's,

before walking into the shopping centre for a nutritious dinner, McDonald's for the girls! There has been quite a bit of that lately! I haven't quite finished my shopping or finished making gifts or done my baking or shopped for food but its all good - heaps of time!!!

While I am airy fairy-ily going about Christmas preparations I have also had a few more dates... two guys who only seem to be available during the day... very suspect!

There is one though, that has quite taken my fancy....

looking forward to a magical Christmas and a magical summer...

take care
Rachaelxo

p.s don't forget to follow my Blog, follow me on Twitter, follow me on Facebook and visit my ETSY!!!

What price?

There is no price...

the burglars who broke into the castle on Friday night took my laptop, my jewelery and my camera USB cable!

The laptop and USB cable are replaceable, all the lost information. photo's and files on my computer are not replaceable, and no I did not back up regularly, my grandmothers engagement, my gold baby bangle and all the jewelery my dad gave me when I was a little girl is not replaceable, as is my Princess's pillowcase that they stripped off the bed to carry the jewelery out in.  And what is hard to replace is feeling secure in our home now that it has been violated.

What has gone and how we feel is not measurable in $$$, there is no monetary price!

But it ain't all bad in fact most is good...

*The Princess finished school today, eight weeks of summer holidays - awesome!
*My sister in law, my 3 year old niece and my 2 year old nephew are out from Australia to have Christmas with us - awesome!
*The Princess and I put up and trimmed the bedroom Christmas tree and then the wind blew it over and we had to start again, it is now bolted into place -awesome!
*We went to Christmas in the Park on Saturday night - awesome!
*I haven't done any Christmas shopping or making presents but have bought new clothes - awesome!
*I had coffee with the hottest guy ever today and he wants to see me again - awesome!

And hey! Thanks for all the comments and feedback about online dating, really interested to hear that many of you have experienced online dating!

I should clarify that I am just interested in having a male companion type person rather than a serious relationship at this stage but in saying that, it was fascinating and inspiring to hear that is how some of you met your husbands - awesome!

take care
Rachaelxo

The Dating Game or should it be called The Mating Game?

Following on from my post about my new collection titled Eclectic Men, I thought I would give you a run down on the highs and lows and ups and downs of Internet dating...

My foray into Internet dating started on the recommendation of a resource I downloaded on how to recover from being cheated on, this resource cost the Wasband $90 US, I had his credit card number - haha!

Anyway one of the recommendations was to have coffee and go to movies with male friends to build your confidence back up, well I didn't have any male friends as such and didn't think my girl friends would lend me their partners!  Where do I find some male friends I wondered and then I had a light bulb moment,  ONLINE!!!  My own slant on what was recommended - LOL

The first site I registered for cost $30 NZD per month to be a member, very pricey and then I found another site $10 NZD per month, bargain!!!  I suspect you get what you pay for...

To belong and to 'find and meet friends' you register, pay and create a witty and interesting profile of yourself with a stunning photo that has been photo shopped!  Ok, I am joking about the photo shop bit!  And then you wait...

not for long though, your new meat, they sniff you out like bloodhounds and you can't keep up with the messages coming into your mailbox.

Sounds great doesn't it!

Cartoonstock.com

It was an eye opener and I mean an EYE OPENER. Men think nothing of doing the following, and this is often without even a hello in the first line of their first message to you...

"do you want to f#@*?"
"how much do you charge?"
"can I buy your underwear?"
"would you like to watch me on cam?"
"can I watch you on cam?"

and they send you revolting photo's of their private parts... which believe me could do with a lot of photo shopping!!!

So you very quickly acquaint yourself with the settings on your account and fortunately you can prevent most of that from getting to your mailbox!!!  But truly, that is what happens, I thought I was reasonably unshockable but I swear my jaw would hit my keyboard some nights until I figured out I could prevent those messages!!!

It's quite easy to sort out the chaff from the hay, you reject 99.% of them and engage in humorous and clever chat with the 1% that sounds and looks ok and after a while you meet them for coffee!

I have had some interesting coffee experiences, the guy who turned out to be 6ft8 compared to my 5ft and had cerebral palsy and stuttered, not that there is anything wrong with that but he hadn't told me so it was slightly shocking when I met him! The guy who went on and on about his ex wife and how she screwed  him over financially, the guy I had coffee with whose wedding I went to 6 weeks later or the white shoe man who I posted about!  And then finally the Cartoonist who was a decent man and who I was involved with for 15 months until recently.

And because I like to have a man in my life, I am back in the Dating Game... and have met a couple of nice guys, one of who might develop into something further than a friend....or not!

Before I finish this post I need to reassure you that I have rules to keep me safe while going through the Internet Dating process:
I never divulge where I live or study
I never divulge that I have a child when conversing online
Coffee is always in public and I am careful when I drive home
I never give out my phone number

and finally my Princess has no idea of her Mummy's dating life and unless I meet a man I am very serious about and confident it is going to be a long term relationship, I would never introduce anyone into her life.

There you have it, Internet Dating 101!!!

I'll keep you posted!

take care
Rachaelxo

P.S.
would love you to follow me
would love you to be my facebook friend
would love you to check out my Etsy

To hell, to hell with balance!

“To hell, to hell with balance! I break glasses; I want to burn, even if I break myself. I want to live only for ecstasy. Nothing else affects me. Small doses, moderate loves, all half-shades, leave me cold. I like extravagance, heat. Letters which give the postman a stiff back to carry, books which overflow from their covers, sexuality which bursts the thermometer! I’m neurotic, perverted, destructive, fiery, dangerous - lava, inflammable, unrestrained.” — Anaïs Nin

Take Care

Rachaelxo

p.s please follow me... I am not very popular yet - lol

Eclectic Men!

I have moved on from roses and cherubs and am now collecting men...

they are much better than roses and cherubs in the way that they don't require dusting, hanging on walls, cluttering my home...

although they certainly have signs of ageing and flaws, like a good vintage collectible, and do require attention...

but then again so do I!!! haha!

So in my collection I have:
*the Wasband, who I have an excellent relationship with despite everything...
*the Cartoonist, who remains a good friend...

and a few potential additions to the collection that I have met recently or am going to meet:
*the lawyer/chiropractor
*the IT city slicker
*the professional sportsman

could be an interesting summer...

take care
Rachaelxo

p.s. this type of collection needs to come with a warning... cracks in ones heart rather than an empty purse can be a side effect

oh and I need to state that the Princess has no idea of anyone in her Mummy's collection apart from her Daddy - the Wasband!