Hi everyone,

Well it's Christmas Day and we have a had an early start at 6am with 2 very excited boys who couldn't wait to open presents. It is now 8pm and we had a lovely day with the family and lots of food & champagne was consumed! I am so ready for sleep.

I am looking forward to spending some time with the boys and Michael over the next week as life has been very hectic leading up to Xmas and the stress levels were getting very high. The renovations at the shop are pretty much finished now with just a bit of wall decorating to do - it is looking really good and I can't believe how fast I have managed to fill up the space. Having a large classroom area and room for storage is just fantastic.

I have to make up some projects for Australian Beading for the next book that is coming out in 2010 so I am racking my brain to come up with some interesting ones.

Even though I should be resting over the week - I also can't help but think about ways to keep the wheels turning at the shop. It's been 3 years now and we have done pretty well considering the state of the economy. The fact that I still have such a passion for jewellery has helped and that finding ways to keep it all interesting for the customers continues to be a daily challenge which I constantly relish.

Bring on 2010 - I have a feeling it will be a good year! Monnie