A well needed break!

After an amazing month at the Boutique with our March newsletter and its promotion, Mark and I are enjoying a well earned break. He has had a few good jobs of late and so surprised me with an Easter treat at Anantara Spar resort in Phuket. This place is amazing. The best massages I have ever had. The Thai girls are so gentle and have a heat compress system to relax your muscles before the massage. Apart from that we have been floating around the pool and sleeping. Mark found a deal where the breakfast was included.. so we have a big breakfast and save some money by skipping lunch. (He needs to skip lunch for about 10 years I think!) In my absence Christina has been running the boutique with help from Glena from Amoena. My heartfelt thanks to both of them. Tomorrow, Friday we start our trip back home with a flight to Singapore and then the midnight special back to Brisbane. If you need time out to relax and heal, then this is the spot. While not the cheapest place to stay... it is certainly a "spiritual recharge" as Mark calls it. My thanks to our travel agent Kim Ross from Ross & Turner Travel Associates and also to all the wonderful staff here at Anantara Phuket. See you all next week. Debra

My prosthesis has a hole in it!

Sadly we get this call at least once a day. Amoena breast prostheses are beautifully made by hand by ladies working in their German factory. The are soft and designed to mimic a real breast, especially in feel. If someone hugs a prosthesis wearer, they won't know you're wearing one. They are that good. However, the same qualities that make them like this also mean that you need to take lots of care of them. One area that catches some ladies out is this: Amoena warrants their prostheses against manufacturing faults for 2 years. If you manage to puncture the prosthesis, then that is not a warranty item. Much like getting a nail in your car tyre. The tyre shop will not replace your tyre because it is punctured. It is an area that is outside the control of the manufacturer. Here are a couple of pictures of a punctured prosthesis. In this case, the damage was done by the pin on a corsage of flowers. Other causes of punctures can be carrying thorny cuttings when you are gardening, or wearing brooches or name pins etc. One of the "natural enemies" of the breast prosthesis is the domestic cat. We have lost count of the number of punctured prostheses we have seen with multiple holes from a cat's claws. Can you see the tiny dark spot that is the puncture? Below is a close up of the puncture in the prosthesis. As you can see.. the smallest hole in them causes an immediate leak of the whipped silicone oil inside the prosthesis. While prostheses are robust, one puncture can be the ending of them. Also if you like swimming, you should use a swim form, especially if diving deep in the pool. They are designed for water immersion and have special grooves in them to allow water to drain away quickly when you get out of the pool. So remember, keep all sharp objects away from your prosthesis and it will give you a good service life. It is also very important to wash it every second day at least to keep skin oils form ageing the envelope material. We have seen some really dirty prostheses come into the shop.. keeping them clean extends their life. Catch up again soon. Debra

Stuck in Melbourne

So I flew to Melbourne last week to attend the breast care nurses conference. Learned a lot. As I have elderly relatives here i thought I would spend the weekend with them. Head off to the airport tonight and my flight isn't on the departure board. So what's going on? Well Virgin have cancelled my flight. Excellent customer service in not advising me earlier. To their credit they have put me up for the night.. but now I won't be back at the boutique until late tomorrow morning. Virgin have all my contact details.. one short phone call earlier in the day and I could have made other arrangements. You need to lift your game Virgin! Not good enough! Some of us have small businesses to run.. and our homes depend on it! Cheesed off Debra

In your letter box soon!

Yes look for our new newsletter in your letter box in the first week of march. We have some great new products to tell you about and we're sure you are going to love them! Debra.

A joyous, yet humbling afternoon.

This afternoon I was asked to be MC at a function held at Karuna Hospice Centre in Brisbane. Around 35 women gathered to hear from a few speakers. One a lady from Zimbabwe told how she escaped a destructive marriage where her husband would hit her violently. She brought her 5 children to Australia and is empowering other women in abusive relationships to leave and find a better life for themselves. Also there was the Honourable Teresa Gambaro MP and the Honourable Bronwyn Bishop MP. Bronwyn spoke at length for the need for equality for women especially in foreign countries where husbands (and their families) have murdered wives for dowry issues. Just awful. Karuna helps those who are at life's end need palliative care. A wonderful organisation indeed.

You wouldn't believe it... flooding again!

So we just cannot believe that the people of QLD are being subjected to heart breaking floods again. So soon after the last lot. This time we weren't affected (apart from water under our house) and our shop at Clayfield remained high and dry. My heart goes out to all those affected by this flood. Ev en Jan one of my staff cannot make it to work today as a tree is blocking her exit from her home. Stay safe out there... and if the authorities ask you to evacuate... go! If you stay and need to be evacuated later, you put yourself and the the EMQ people at considerable risk. Debra

At long last.. it's finally here!

Yes at long last.. it's finally here!What am i going on about?? The Spirit of Life web site and store. We used to have one that worked perfectly.. but things changed and it no longer worked. (Because of changes with the way the internet works.. apparently) But never mind that... now we have a new one and it is magic. From the clear clean look to the easy way the shopping basket works.. well what can I say. Everybody here is over the moon and our customers are giving us feedback that they love it too. So click on this link and have look for yourself. We're sure you will love it as much as we do! Debra