Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all who are Mothers and all who have Mothers (thats pretty much everyone) lol

I have come on to do a quick blog and see that many things at Blogger have changed since I last posted! I can hardly believe it was February 22nd the last time I was on here. I have been working hard on my Diploma which started around then and everything else has had to go on the backburner! It's not that I haven't had anything to say but just not had the time to say it!
Anyway will just make this short tonight as need to get to bed soon but wanted to acknowledge all the amazing Mums I know. But especially my Mum. I was thrilled to able to make lunch for her here and we had a lovely relaxed family day catching up and relaxing. And we certainly don't do that enough of that :)
I am very lucky to have very thoughtful children who made me feel very special today. My eldest Matthew (20) bought me a little bottle of Lindauer Fraise - my favourite sparkling wine. That was a first! The first time a child of mine has bought me alcohol - and I was very touched that he knew what to buy - what a giggle!! Kirsten bought me slippers (what I wanted) and Livvy gave me Peppermint chocolate. The little ones gave me flowers and a new novel to read. So - very spoilt and very grateful for the thoughtful people in my life xx
I'll be back soon and I want to work out how to use all these new gadgets on Blogger when I do! Thanks goodness I have technologically savvy children to help me work it out :)

One Year On.

Well - we made it! It is February 22nd 2012. One year ago the Earth underneath Christchurch unleashed its energy yet again. This time with fatal consequences.

I was watching from Melbourne. At 11.01am Australia time I received a text from my Daughter Livvy. "Mum. We're having another big earthquake". This text arrived within 10 minutes of the 6.3M After Shock. Liv had sent it straight away.

I had just arrived at the hotel I was staying at but as my room wasn't ready I went up to the room of Gayle Taylor - another Christchurch Director - to get changed into my Director Suit for the start of our conference in the afternoon. As Gayle opened the door we said big hello's and then my phone buzzed. I read the text aloud and we all went straight to the TV - after 2 minutes Channel 9 switched to Live coverage of what was unfolding in Christchurch and there was the Cathedral - Broken. How could that be? I'd just left and everything was fine. Ironically, at this stage, I knew more than most people in Christchurch about how bad it actually was.

I knew what I had to do - I apologised to my consultant Carolyn and to Gayle and said "I'm sorry but I'm going home". I got on the phone straight away and Air New Zealand put me on a flight to Christchurch leaving at 5pm.

It was the most terrible feeling. I wanted to get to my children and husband. I wanted to know that they were alright. I wanted to get straight to school and I couldn't. I felt so far away.

A lot of people have said to me how lucky I was that I wasn't here. I didn't and I still don't feel lucky. I have never wanted to be closer to my family than that moment. It was the most terrible feeling. It remains the worst experience of my life. And to that end I do feel lucky - lucky and blessed that this is the worst experience I have ever had and that all my family were and are safe. My heart goes out to all who lost a special someone on this day last year. You may have read in an earlier blogpost of mine of how close we came to losing one of our own. And my niece Jenny blogged about her sister last night http://mendandmakenew.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/reflecting-on-2222011.html

Gayle Taylor's sister Bev was badly hurt at the Tasty Tucker in Sydenham and her rehabilitation will be long and slow. She will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. But her family are grateful she is alive.

Even though I didn't experience the actual physical violence of the 6.3M Shock on February 22nd, I still had exactly the same adrenaline rush that day, that I had experienced on September 4th 2010. This adrenaline got me to the train station, on foot, no taxi's available that lunch hour! From the train to the airport where our plane unable to land in Christchurch, was diverted to Wellington. I met the lovely Robyn and her cousin trying to get back to Christchurch too and we met early in the morning at the Ferry terminal where we stuck together and my Hero Glenn came and picked us up in Picton and drove us home to Christchurch.

I cannot describe the feelings of relief when we arrived at mt Brother Simon's home and there were all my children and my Mum. Safe and Sound.  Lucky me - Home at last. And this is where I'm staying. Christchurch - It may be broken but our heart is still beating.

Kia Kaha Christchurch. - Our year of mourning is over - Time to step forward and embrace our exciting future xx

New Year - New Home :)

Wow - It's the end of January already! We have packed in so much to the month that it has disappeared in a blur. Just before Christmas we found the perfect house to move to on the East Of Christchurch. And it's not that easy to find the perfect house on the East since 4th September 2010.
So we grabbed it and moved on Friday the 13th of January - The Livingstones always like to add a bit of drama to everything we do!
We had exactly 3 weeks, from the day we signed up to the day we moved, to pack our house. And these 3 weeks included a 6.0 After Shock on December 23rd, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Our Anniversary on New Years Day. So we had to be organised and we did it!

So here I am sitting in our lovely new home typing this blog.

Everything is ready for the first day of school tomorrow. It's a bit further to school now so I'll have to be organised - I'm not known for being early to school :)

Last Saturday my second baby turned 18. And she went out to a bar with all her girlfriends who have turned 18 before her! It's hard to believe that my older babies are becoming young adults.
Happy 18th Birthday Kirsten - you are turning into an amazing young woman xx. Enjoy starting University this year! You will love it :)

Wow - February - another month of new beginnings ahead! Isn't Life exciting :)

A Year of Endings and a Year of New Beginnings

2011 is finished and 2012 has begun. I wonder how many other people feel as if last year disappeared in a blur. It certainly was a year of endings. Huge Endings for some! I know I've said it before but the families of the 182 people who died in the February 22^nd earthquake are often in my thoughts and prayers. Moving on from that will take a very long time. The number could and probably should have been higher than 182 – if you look at the destruction in the central city.

After February several of the consultants in my team left Christchurch because they didn’t feel safe anymore. I understood – there were times when I didn’t feel very safe either. Many of my consultants told me they didn’t want to go out at night to do parties any more. I understood – I didn’t want to go out at night either. Suddenly selling lipstick didn’t seem so high on the priority list any more. Many of my customers lost their jobs, or their husbands did. Skin Care and Cosmetics were now a luxury item. Although I was still using Skin Care, I wasn’t wearing much makeup for quite a few months after February. It was more common place to be wearing gumboots!

New Zealand is such a small place and it came to my attention that someone in Mary Kay had said at the end of May that apparently I simply gave up. One of my consultants from the North Island was attending a retreat in Wellington and said to this person. “I feel so sorry for Anthea, it’s been so difficult this year?” and the reply went something like this “Well it’s been hard for all of us but the rest of us didn’t quit!”

Perhaps if this person had given me a phone call after they heard I was resigning, they would know why I chose to move on. I did a lot of soul searching in those first few months after February. I wasn’t here on the 22^nd. And the most important thing for me now was to be close to my children, for as long as it takes for all of us to feel okay about being apart. I knew that I didn’t want to go to Wellington to the retreat and I knew that I couldn’t be the best Director I wanted to be.

So I chose to resign. It wasn’t easy but it felt right. I have much to be thankful about in my time with Mary Kay. It was the perfect job for me with pre-schoolers. It was a privilege to be able to guide and train my consultants. Mary Kay paid for our family trip to Australia in 2007. It paid for all of eldest daughter’s orthodontics and most of my middle daughter’s orthodontics. I made some awesome friends and enjoyed some wonderful trips. I was able to work but still be at home for my family when I needed to be. But suddenly it didn’t feel right anymore. Time to move on! Scary and exciting at the same time!

And I would like to say to this person who said that they were able to hang on while I chose to quit – "Maybe saying that about me that helped you to feel better about your own situation. You are welcome to borrow strength from me. I have plenty. I’m so pleased that you made the choice to move forward with your business. I wish you every success now, and in the future. Cosmetics certainly can make a woman feel great and Christchurch women certainly are in need of that. And you are offering a career to those who have had to move on from their jobs. How fantastic!"

My wise Mother always said that when one door closes, another one opens. With every ending comes an opportunity. And I have been grabbing opportunities with both hands. And it feels good and it feels right. 2011 has come to an end. And 2012 will bring new beginnings and isn’t that a wonderful thing J

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone and Happy and Peaceful 2012. May it be filled with many positive moments and few shaky moments :) x

Thankful Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope you had an awesome day yesterday.

I am thankful that the ground was able to keep reasonably quiet yesterday. To have more significant earthquakes on Friday 23rd was unexpected. It was a setback that Christchurch didn't need so close to Christmas. Briana spent the entire afternoon under the table and almost screaming with each subsequent shock. During the 6.0 at 3.19pm I could hear glass smashing. Matt was in the shower - I had told him to be quick but he had only been in the shower two minutes and it ended up being a shaky one!

I am thankful that we didn't lose power or water and I decided to cook dinner and the Christmas Lamb early "just in case".

My heart went out to those in the Eastern Suburbs who had lost power and were yet again facing cleaning up the sand and water in their streets due to liquefaction. Again the resilient residents of Christchurch went out with their shovels and started the clean up. I think we are all wondering if this is ever going to end.

I am thankful that no-one died in this latest round of seismic activity. I hope any injuries are healing quickly. Even as I write this on Boxing Day I am interrupted by the ground moving. We had disruption last year on Boxing Day that changed a relaxing "chill out day" into one of anxiety. I hope that Christchurch people were able to enjoy Christmas regardless of what was going on around them.

I am thankful that we were able to enjoy Christmas Day in our own home this year with our family around us. The children had a wonderful day. Father Christmas answered specific requests and Josh seemed happy with the kitten toy and not disappointed that it wasn't a real one (phew). Briana was able to relax and seemed to not notice the small ripples moving through the house throughout the day. The older Children appeared to be really content with their gifts and the feeling of the contentment in the house was obvious.

I am thankful that Glenn and I both have employment and that Christmas wasn't a financial burden. I was privileged to be involved this last week with Rebuild Christchurch Foundation's Project Christmas. During the week we shopped, packed and delivered Christmas Boxes full of food and presents to people facing financial hardship due to the quakes. I met some amazing people for whom the earthquakes have had significant impact. People who have lost jobs, their homes, one person who lost a limb in the February quake and one amazing family who lost a family member on February 22nd.

This family had a significant impact on me. I thought when I delivered their gift that there might be tears but I didn't realise that they would be my own. You can see on their faces that life has been especially hard. As well as losing their loved family member, there have also been huge health issues to overcome the last 15 months -as well as dealing with the continuing earthquakes and repairing damage to their home. I had to pull over out on the street afterwards to have a big cry. It brought home to me how it could have been our family facing our first Christmas without a member of our own.

I am thankful that my niece Holly was able to fly down to Christchurch to be with us all for Christmas. This is what happened to the building she was in when the 6.3 earthquake struck on February 22nd.

How did she survive? A miracle perhaps? Two heroes rushed over to pull her out of the basement, that somehow opened up to give her a small amount of room to fall into, with the rubble from above. Holly rang her Father, my brother Simon, after being pulled out to say she was okay and could he come and pick her up. Not realising the damage in town, Simon told her to secure the building and he was on his way. Holly turned to look at the pile of rubble above and said to Simon that she couldn't secure it any more than it already was! Our own little miracle! And I am thankful everyday! My thoughts and prayers have been with the families of 181 who died and those who were injured on that day over this Christmas time.

I am thankful that I have the chance to be able to give something back to our city through Affordable Sections and Rebuild Christchurch. I have much to be thankful for and I'm looking forward to spending Boxing Day relaxing with my family.

Happy Birthday Tom - Halfway to Fifty!

Just as an aside my "little" nephew Tom is 25 today. Born just after I turned 20. Such an adorable baby!
Hope you've had an awesome day Tom and enjoy being Halfway to Fifty :)