Cake Stalls and other fundraising trivia

Is there anyone else out there, who quakes at the mention of cakes stalls, trivia nights and other fundraising activities for my daughter's school?

It seems as though there is something every week, a walkathon, dolphins, red noses, Stewart House, book week and then there are the activities as well.

Plus to put the icing on the cake, you have to bring home made cakes, shop bought are not acceptable. How many of us really have the time to be baking cakes?

I think it is a wonderful thing that my daughter gets a well rounded education, but you know, I think I would prefer a "lazy" parents levy which would be the one where I just handed in some extra money to be let off the hook.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Jerry's 50th

It was a beautiful night for a party. Crisp autumn night, fairy lights in the garden. Live music in a tiny terrace at the back of Newtown.

Making it special is the fact that Jerry is still with us, he is on the list for a heart transplant, so every day counts, when RPA is a regular rest stop.

Great people - as is always the case at Jerry's parties. His mother from afar, I imagine her as a Grande Dame in New York, apparently told Jerry to take photos as she wanted to make sure that he still had friends and that he hadn't driven them away from being too cantakerous!

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Neat kids

So how do other mothers do it? How do they manage to make their kids look neat and clean at all times?

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Points of view

This week I have been working on my music project, trying to make a reality a dream I have to produce a concert series of music, underpinned by fantastic musicians. The concept is to connect artists with music lovers. There is so much great music happening in Sydney, and I am sure many people who would love to hear it. The trick is marrying the two.

It seems that mainly pop music has been able to do this and be commercially successful, or organisations with lots of clout and marketing budget. I proceed on the old one step at a time philosophy and with a shoe string budget. Hopefully I will end up being able to present music in a environment people want to experience.

I have my venue, my artists, business plan etc mapped out, now I just need to find the money to kick start the project.

It is interesting as I talk to various people what thoughts they have to who would pull an audience, what sort of artistic direction to take etc, plus how easy it is to lose focus and head down many different directions.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Back to School Blues

Yet another holidays over and back to school. The house is chaos with the end of our renovation, which is proving to run to form with the costs growing and growing. So there is the cost of the actual building work, which was hardly anything, now we have the painting, the new floor, new furniture and of course we need something to cover the windows, plus it makes the rest of the house look tatty.

We spent Wednesday, Anzac Day in shopping hell for families and all, with a trip to IKEA. I knew it was a bad day to go, but had underestimated the lure of IKEA on a wet day, the number of families out for the day and the chaos of it all.

I think we actually escaped quite lightly in that we had no major rows and managed to see stuff we were interested in.

I am also amazed by the length of time it takes to cash a bank cheque. From Friday when I had settlement on my house to Friday to clear! What a racket. Yes, I know there are all sorts of excuses but it is ridiculous in this day and age and the fact that it didn't even reach my account till Tuesday is incredible.

No wonder life dribbles away.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Surfers Paradise - Kids Paradise

A quick trip to Surfers Paradise to visit a few "other worlds" - in this case Movie World and Seaworld. My daughter has come of age in terms of wanting to do all the action rides, I had to send her on her own for some of the more gut wrenching ones.

However, the highlight for me, apart from the High Tea at Palazzo Versace was Arran's animal Adventure at Seaworld with the Dolphins. Check out the video.





Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Work, workmen & school holidays

So it really is a life with a ladder that can be a bit scarey and challenging and sometimes not always vertical.

The career direction is morphing again, this time to things that are incredibly close to the things that I have always wanted to do. Dreaming and thinking about the future seems to be a good way to go.

Life has been a bit crazy with school holidays and workmen. Our over bureaucratic process to close in our verandah is slowly drawing to completion with the builders turning up, but hey I wish I had known what day they were coming back - so I could have booked my holiday to be away at this time.

Things are coming together in terms of financial planning, why is it so hard to find a decent financial planner? Well, I am happy with my choice now, heres to a sound economic future. That ties in nicely with the launch of our financial website Women & Wealth, lets hope that we get started soon.


Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Easter Show

So its Easter again, and where did the thought of Easter presents come from?

I am still grappling with the fact that the Easter Bunny needs to visit and slightly bemused by the pure commercialisation of it all with the number of "egg hunts" taking place on Good Friday. As I have been strictly informed by the religious friends it is sacrilege to have chocolate on Good Friday.

Also cannot believe the guts of my little girl on the rides at the Easter show. I was screaming my head off, as she made me go on a stomach turning ride. Luckily I didn't have to do the vertical drop with her! So she was going faster and faster and could hardly hold on - but she enjoyed it!

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Cutting losses

So finally I have exchanged contracts on my house in Kiama.

That was an exercise in sentiment over good sense. Buying bricks and mortar for a long term investment, when really I would have been better off with shares, as by the time someone pointed out the figures to me, I needed to double the property value in 7 years just to make a decent return, not to mention all that money I was piling into the property for legal, maintenance etc.

So I reckon there needs to be a reality check framework somewhere, that is easy to access that tells you what sort of return you really need to be making money. Yes I realise there are all sorts of ratios and calculators, but until someone sat me down and showed me the proof, well it really is heart over common sense.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Trivial pursuits

Hi well I was roped into a trivial pursuits fund raiser down the South Coast, they usually seem to be fund raisers don't they?

Interesting trivia fact, the questions out of Sydney seem to be easier than those in town. Now I am not classifying myself as a brain, but I had more of a chance of getting some vaguely right, where as the other sessions I have been to I have felt like the super idiot.

Also managed to have an end of the season swim, just before the weather turned. What a great way to spend some time.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Bridge Walk

Images Joanne Kee

So we joined the other 200,000 for today's harbour bridge walk.

A great feeling to be part of the sea of people.

Joanne Kee
http://www.ceressolutions.com.au

Breakfast with the elephants

What a fantastic way to spend a morning, Taronga Park Zoo, view of Sydney Harbour, then watching the elephants being washed and heading out for their breakfast.

The zoo is abuzz with activity in the early morning. Great place to hang out.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Kids birthday parties

Well in sweltering Sydney heat, a pool party was a big hit. After labouring away organising a party myself this year I have gone back to the easier option of having it all arranged for you, hence we all went to Ryde aquatic centre for our big day out. 7 year old party, no mess (or at least no mess you have to clean up yourself.


Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Hanging out

Fantastic how they have built a beach on Blackwattle Bay. Admittedly I am not tempted to swim there because it has become a dog beach, but it looks great and adds to a very good vibe.



Hooray we are a step further along in the process for our renovations . Foliage has been removed, just need the Council rep to visit and we can start.


It makes me quite annoyed, I have to go through all this process and paperwork before I can start, yet the business man down the road who owns a chain of backpackers lodges just goes ahead and rebuilds before he gets his DA, and changes the usage without approval. What sort of justice is that?



Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras Fair day

It was a stinking hot day for both occasions. however it was fun to meander through Chinatown and beyond to see some of the New Year celebrations.

Mega packed on the street stalls, however with my daughters obsession with stickers and cute shops, we found lots to look at, patted the dragons nose for good luck, but different from the old days when fire crackers wre going off everywhere.

Plus lots of entertainment, such as dancing pigs to set the tone!

As for Fair Day, that is now huge, so much to see, much to hot to see it all. However, we did get to pat a very cute puppy, they make them so small now, incredible. Plus patted the pony with pink hair.

Joanne
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Blackwattle Bay and the foreshore

Well its been a while since I wandered down to the foreshore and its looking pretty good. The goal is to create a walkway from Glebe to the City and it will be fantastic when it is finished.

However, I do have to wonder, I hear that the State Government are thinking of allowing people to put in private jetties, which runs totally contra to the whole idea of a public walkway, with public access. What are they thinking?

Australia is a great place where in the main people can't own private beach and exclude others. All over the world they have beaches and parks which are for the elite and it sucks.

Hopefully Sydneysiders will not let individuals own our beaches and waterways.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Renovation blues

I can't believe how hard it is to get our renovations started. The process has been going on for over a year. I seem to have that thing that is neither fish nor fowl. Not quite big enough for a serious renovation team, but not quite small enough to escape the bureacracy and red tape.

My, my those councils certainly are ready to charge for all sorts of things. I am amazed that for adding a glassed in wall to our back room that we need a building inspector!

Then there is the problem of getting the builder to commit to a start date, they seem to be coming and going as the days rush past!

I think I'll start a book to see if this 4 week job might be completed by say June or maybe the end of the year?

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Back to School Blues

It is amazing how quickly those school holidays disappear. Hardly any time for boredom as the days sped away.

However the "I don't want to go back to school" mantra has started - I figure a lot more years of that to come!

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Grandeurs of a country club

Hi, so life took me to Ryde Aquatic centre yesterday.

I haven't been there before and it is a mega pumping place, absolutely jam packed with people - mainly kids. Not my idea of a great way to spend time, I seem to have developed a paranoia for public pools, seen too much snot floating along.

Looking for a coffee I stumbled onto the private club, with outdoor landscaped pool area, free internet, newspapers, relaxing lounge, kids creche etc. It reminded me of a country club in a colonial outpost. Extremely genteel. They just needed the golf range (maybe they had it) because all the other stuff was there. However I am just as sure that there kids have snot too, so still not too keen on the pools.


Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

skype

So I ended up being able to talk to my friends in London and Sydney in an online conference call through Skype.

Events have happened that we are scattered between London, New York and Sydney, how great to be able to speak together. Albeit the connection is a bit scratchy at times, but hey, I couldn't possibly afford a Telstra conference call for an hour with that kind of set up.

Apparently MSN is also good for this kind of thing as well.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au