Friday, December 24, 2010

Another year ends.. another year older!


Well.. here it is... Christmas Eve. And also my birthday. And as usual my daughter Christina has organised a small party at the boutique for me. Presents,sandwiches and cake for a lucky mother. Surrounded by my husband, staff and some special friends this is a very happy day for me.

And on this positive note; we close the boutique for our annual Christmas Break. While the Tax Office works in a fiscal year.. we look back on 2010 the year that was. It hasn't been an easy year.. some of our favourite special ladies have lost their breast cancer battle and passed over. To their families we extend our sympathy and hope that they can soldier on and enjoy this Christmas break. We'll be back in 2011 and look forward to seeing you all then at some time in the boutique.

Debra

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The only thing constant about change.. is change!


Well here we are again at the end of another year... as I get older the years seem to go faster. I look back at this year and am amazed at the changes that have taken place at our Boutique. We have new post operation compression products from Mareena that are keeping us on the hop! We are seeing lots of ladies who are scheduled for plastic surgery in our shop every day and the Doctors are pleased with the fitting skills of our fitters. So that has been a big change for us this year. And our daughter Christina who has been with us for 6 years now has decided to go and seek her fortune in Sydney early next year. We will miss her very much.. but we do wish her well in her new life path.

Of course, Christina was our seamstress who modified fashion bras so that they can hold a prosthesis. So from next year onwards, we will only be ably to supply a pocket; not fit it for our ladies. The other big change for 2011 is a change to our opening hours. While our weekday opening hours will not change... our Saturday hours will. From January we will be open by appointment only on morning of the second and fourth Saturdays in each month. We realise that this may cause a small inconvenience to some of our ladies, but to be honest working a 6 day week for the past 6 years has not been good for my heath. (Nor my staff who sometimes have to do this shift with me.)

And a final note for this blog.. we all stood outside and waved good-bye to the RAAF F111 aircraft recently. I loved these aeroplanes much to Mark's amusement and as sidebar, Mark's older brother Viv photographed these aircraft arriving in Australia in 1973 at Amberley Air Force Base. In fact it was his last job for The Sunday Truth newspaper before he left to go on to other things.

Till next time..

Debra

Sunday, December 5, 2010

What a reunion in Melbourne


Wow.. a weekend away from the boutique (thanks Jen and Christina) in Melbourne. My favourite Uncle and Aunt are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Their son and daughter (my cousins) arranged a surprise party for them and my part in this subterfuge was to keep them out of their home while the caterers set up. It was a wonderful event last night.. I got to see people I haven't seen in years. We all had a ball.

And.. I was in their original wedding party. Yes I was the flower girl.. and there I am in the official picture! Yes that's Debra from Spirit of Life Boutique 50 years ago. Mark cannot believe it!

Talk soon.

Debra

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Silly Season has Started Again

Hello folks.. well here it is December 1, the start of the so called silly season. That mad rush to Christmas with mothers preparing shopping lists for those great family reunions that so mark our Australian way of celebrating Christmas Day. Here at the shop we have had the busiest November of the past 5 years. I have even dragged Mark in here to wrap parcels and take them to the post office. A lot of new prostheses have gone out the door. And speaking of prostheses.. this past month we have seen here at least once a day, ladies who have been fitted with the wrong prosthesis to suit their needs. At the risk of offending other fitters out there, the girls and I just wonder what were they thinking? Or to quote a training film I saw years ago... "Who sold you that then?" Just today I had a lady here who was fitted at a department store.. and despite having a broken shoulder, she was "sold" a heavy weight prosthesis. Her physiotherapist couldn't believe it. She should have been fitted with a light weight prosthesis. Unbelievable!

Ladies.. you do have choices in breast prostheses. And if you are told "This is all there is" (and we hear that a lot from these ladies) then vote with your feet and find another specialist fitter. Your prosthesis should fit you and your lifestyle, not the other way around. Here at the boutique we carry the widest choice in Queensland. (and don't forget we can do home visits if you're not well!)

Well.. I have that off my chest now! I am sorry to sound cross but to see ladies like this one suffering is just crazy.

Talk soon

Debra